Know Thyself: the Prelude
by Hoshi-tachi
Summary: What if Neo wasn't the One? What if the One was a little boy with green eyes...? Pre-Hogwarts, warnings for child abuse and violence. Complete with sequel up.
1. Is Anybody Home?

**Title:** Know Thyself  
**Author:** hoshi-tachi  
**Category: **Harry Potter (HP/The Matrix)  
**Rating:** PG-13  
**Summary:** What if the One _wasn't_ Neo…What if the One was a little boy with green eyes…?  
**Warnings:** Non-explicit child abuse, violence, and profanity. Any further warnings will be posted in the pertinent chapters.  
**Disclaimer: **I own nothing pertaining to either Harry Potter or The Matrix, though I do own any and all original characters.

* * *

Little Whinging was a place noted for its nice houses, neat lawns, and a sense of normalcy unprecedented in the annals of the modern world. And perhaps the most normal-seeming of its residents were those known as the Dursleys. Yet, the Dursleys had a deep, dark secret that they kept from the rest of the world. It was no secret that they were raising their orphaned nephew. As for what he _was_... 

But we're getting ahead of ourselves.

It was the first day of the month of August. As of the night before, young Harry Potter was nine years old. There had been no recognition of this special day from his aunt and uncle, of course. He never expected any. Although, he reflected as he knelt in his aunt's flowerbed, the list of chores for today _had_ been shorter than usual. There had only been two pages instead of the more normal three. Perhaps Aunt Petunia had at last felt the faintest stirrings of familial devotion?

Harry snorted. It was more likely the Dursleys had simply started to run out of things for him to do, this far into the summer.

He pulled out the last of the weeds and rose, wincing as the movement pulled at his sore muscles. It also didn't help that the bruises from his last beating hadn't yet faded. Sighing, Harry walked inside, careful not to get mud on the clean floor (grounds for a moderate beating, if not a severe one). A quick check on the clock confirmed that Uncle Vernon would be home in fifteen minutes.

Harry nearly smiled. For the first time in nearly a week, his uncle wouldn't have a reason to hurt him. He turned towards the hallway and his cupboard.

Suddenly, there was a crash from behind as something came hurtling through the living room window. The woman rolled, coming erect nearly at Harry's feet, and the two stared at each other.

Had Vernon been present, the green-eyed boy would never have dared to stare so at the stranger who had invaded his home. Doing so would have invited a disapproving box around the ears. He knew that, and so at first it had been surprise that had kept him still and staring, but now...

He could feel her.

-

Trinity knew what she was doing was stupid, that with three Agents on her tail she should _not_ be standing here gawking at a kid, but she couldn't seem to help herself. She couldn't look away from astonishing green eyes, until abruptly those eyes widened and he looked past her, out the broken window. He grabbed her arm, pushing her into a small space underneath the stairs.

She landed on top of a rude cot and watched, shocked, as the boy ran to the front door and flung it open. He turned and threw himself into the cupboard with her, closing the door behind him.

Nearly a minute passed before they heard the pounding of feet outside. They couldn't see what was happening, only pray as they listened to the sound of an object land on the broken glass.

Harry crouched beside the strange woman, trying not to breathe heavily. Desperate, though not sure just why he was afraid, he did the only thing he could think of.

Sometimes, when he was hurt or scared, Harry would pretend he wasn't there, that no one, not his Uncle or the school bullies, could find him. And sometimes they wouldn't. He'd thought it was just coincidence until Dudley and his gang had actually walked past him one day. Now, he closed his eyes and concentrated harder than he ever had before, on the image that the cupboard was full of coats, or old junk, or _anything_ but two people hiding for their lives.

Next to him, Trinity watched, amazed, as an Agent pulled open the door, glanced in, and promptly shut it again, continuing on. She was waiting, breathlessly, for all sounds to fade when a thought that had been niggling at the back of her mind ever since she met the boy came clear, and she turned to study him.

One of the greatest weapons the Agents had against those of Zion was that anyone who wasn't unplugged was potentially an Agent. This child had most definitely seen her, yet was still free. And she only knew of one way that was possible.

"Are you a program?" She asked quietly.

The boy opened his eyes, startled. "A what?"

"A program in the Matrix." Trinity waved her arm, encompassing the world around them. Seeing his confused expression, she shook her head and looked around, at the hard cot with its ratty blanket. "Never mind. What is this place, anyway?"

"My bedroom," he replied absently.

"Room?!"

He nodded. "I think they've left the street."

What in the world? ...Oh, the Agents. "How do you know?"

"I can't feel them anymore."

Trinity's jaw dropped, but any questions she had were forestalled by the noise of a car pulling up in the driveway.

-

Harry went pale as he heard his uncle's car pull in. He knew he would blamed for the broken window, no matter what he said, and that meant he was about to get the beating of his short but well-experienced life.

"This...is going to be bad," he murmured unknowingly, not noticing the questioning look on the woman's face. Sighing, he opened the door of his sanctuary and stepped outside. He turned back to the woman with an afterthought. "Please, don't try and stop him, or he'll hurt you too."

"BOY!"

Harry looked up into Uncle Vernon's rapidly purpling face and cringed.

Oh, yes, this was going to be _very_ bad.

-

Trinity was still pondering the boy's cryptic words when she heard a man shout outside the cupboard, and the meaty 'thud' of flesh hitting flesh. Scrambling to the small doorway, she stared at one of the fattest men she had ever seen standing over the child.

"Freak...little piece of shit...always ruining our lives..." Even as she watched, he drew back his foot and kicked the strange boy viciously in the ribs. The child never made a sound; he just curled up into a ball, as tight as he could manage.

Snarling, Trinity rushed forward, coming up behind the man and wrapping her arm around his throat. Gripping harder as he struggled, she twisted with all her strength, not letting up until she heard a satisfying crack.

Letting the body slump to the floor, she walked over to the boy and knelt. "Hey, it's okay. It's over," she said, putting a hand on his shoulder. Wincing when he flinched away, she wrapped her arms around him, making soothing noises all the while.

After a few minutes, he began to relax, and she was able to pull him up off the floor and lean him against the wall. "Are you all right?"

The boy nodded, and as she shifted to a more comfortable position his eyes fell on the corpse. "You killed him!" he whispered, his face pale.

She winced. "Yeah."

A long second later, he turned and looked her in the eyes. "Thank you."

Surprised, but refusing to show it, Trinity smiled. "I couldn't just let him hurt you, could I?"

"But you don't even know me," he said with a puzzled frown. "Why would you help a freak like me?"

"Well, the first is remedied easily enough. My name is Trinity." She frowned. "Why do you think you're a freak?"

"I'm Harry Potter. And that's what my aunt and uncle always say," he said, gesturing to the dead man. "Because things always happen around me."

She briefly wished his 'uncle' were still alive so she could kill him again. _No one_ should be told that, let alone a small child. "Harry, how long has your uncle been hurting you?"

He blinked. "I don't remember him not."

Trinity swore, making Harry look at her nervously. The boy couldn't remember _not_ being beaten?

She turned to the child and gripped his shoulders firmly. "Harry, I'm going to make you a deal. I will _never_ let anyone hurt you again, on one condition." She gazed intently into his eyes. "Promise me you'll never call yourself a freak again."

"O-okay," he stammered. Seeing her look, he took a deep breath. "I promise."

"Good."

"So...now what?"

Trinity frowned. She hadn't quite considered that far ahead. "Well...would you like to come with me?" Damn Morpheus if he didn't like it. Neo would be on her side on general principle, and she thought Tank might be as well.

He hesitated. "I don't want to be a bother..."

"You won't be," she said vehemently. Suddenly her lips quirked. "Besides, we're undermanned. I'm sure you'll be welcome, with some training."

He gave her a tiny, confused smile.

"Now that that's settled, let's get going, shall we?"

Together, the two walked out the door of Number 4 Privet Drive, neither paying any thought at all to the forgotten body behind them.

* * *

Chapter Edited 7/27/07. If you find any further spelling/grammar errors or inconsistencies, please contact the author. 

Original A/N: Now, I'm sure this will be a bit confusing, so I'll explain a couple of things. Neo _was_ unplugged because Morpheus thought he was the One, but he turned out not to be. Cipher _did_ betray the ship, and Trinity, Neo, Morpheus, and Tank were the only survivors. Other than those things, the first movie doesn't exist except in how I recreate it.


	2. Bring Me to Life

**Warnings and Disclaimers:** Any new items in these categories will be added in the pertinent chapter. A few semi-quotes from the first Matrix movie in this chapter.

* * *

Neo glanced down at his watch yet again. Trinity was never this late, even on those rare occasions Agents caught sight of her. No one on the crew was better than she was at giving them the slip. 

He sighed in relief as a knock on the door sounded in the pre-arranged signal. He went to the door and opened it to see his wife. "You're-"

Then he saw she wasn't alone. "-late... Um. Trin? Introduce me to your friend?"

She smiled, though it seemed a tad nervous to him. "This is Harry Potter. Harry, this is my husband Neo."

Neo studied the boy carefully. He was small and scrawny, worryingly so. That, combined with his messy black hair, made it difficult to accurately judge his age. But when you saw them, his eyes more than made up for his youthful appearance.

They were like emeralds, those eyes, hard and almost astonishingly green. The kind of eyes that had seen too much, and none of it good. The kind of eyes that he was terrified of seeing one day when he looked in the mirror.

It was only then that Neo saw the red mark slowly forming on the boy's cheek, one in the shape of a hand.

Aw, hell... "Harry? How old are you?" he asked hesitantly, pushing his suspicions to the back of his mind for a moment.

"Nine," the child answered, looking up at him apprehensively.

Trinity sucked in a breath, as though she'd thought the child was younger. He leaned into her, whispering so only she could hear him. "Abuse?"

She nodded slightly, and he swore, just as quietly. "Are we bringing him out?"

"You better believe it."

"Good. I'll help you with Morpheus."

-

Harry watched the two adults whisper to each other, until the man, Neo, abruptly nodded. "Good. I'll help you with Morpheus."

"And why, pray tell, would she need help with me?"

He turned to see a large black man standing behind him, ignoring the others as he fastened his eyes on the small boy.

"And you would be...?"

"Harry Potter, sir," Harry said quietly, not wanting to upset someone who felt so dangerous.

"I see." The man glanced over at Trinity. "You wish to unplug him?"

"Yes."

The man looked down at Harry thoughtfully. "Trinity, Neo, if I may speak with you privately?"

They both nodded. Trinity shot Harry a reassuring look as she left the room and him.

-

Morpheus led them to a small room filled with dusty leather furniture, all in a color not un-kin to drying blood. He gestured for them to sit, taking a chair himself.

Finally, he turned to Trinity. "Speak."

He and Neo listened as Trinity reported. Apparently, the contact she was supposed to meet had never shown up, and three Agents had picked up her trail after she left the rendezvous.

"A setup?" Neo interrupted anxiously.

She nodded. "I think so. Anyway, after I realized they were on to me, I tried to get away by cutting through a house. That was when I met Harry." Trinity leaned back into her chair. "This is where things get a little unbelievable. He hid me, and made it look like I'd already left the house by opening the front door and jumping in with me."

Morpheus lifted a brow. "That was intelligent, but hardly unbelievable."

The woman gave him an annoyed look. "The place we were hiding in was a cupboard under the stairs, which, by the way," here she scowled, "turned out to be his bedroom." Taking a bit of satisfaction from the startled look on Morpheus's face, she continued. "While we were hiding, an Agent opened the cupboard door and looked straight at us. _Without seeing us_."

After a moment Morpheus spoke. "That's impossible."

Trinity snorted. "And that's not all, either. He can feel Agents. He knew when they'd left the street."

Neo blinked, incredulous. "But..." He stopped as he realized something. "You said he hid with you, and the Agents didn't know you were there. But shouldn't one have taken him over?"

"I thought of that, too. He didn't know anything about the Matrix when I asked, and I've never met a program that didn't, or would lie about it."

The three sat, lost in thought. At last Morpheus stirred. "Perhaps... perhaps he is the one we're searching for."

At this Neo looked skeptical. "You thought that about me, too, remember? What if you're wrong? I'm not going to let someone else's life be ruined by mistake, let alone a kid's."

"But what if he's right?" Trinity leaned forward eagerly. "I hadn't considered it, but it would explain so much!" Her face turned grim. "And besides, there's not exactly much we can do to make his life worse at this point."

Morpheus frowned. "What do you mean?"

"Harry's family was abusing him, fairly severely from what I saw of it. I asked him how long it had been going on, and it started when he was too young to remember." She looked away. "I broke into his house through a window. After the Agents left, his uncle came home, and saw the broken glass. He started to beat Harry, and... I lost my temper."

The others both winced. They knew very well what it was like when their shipmate was pushed over the edge.

Trinity glared at them fiercely. "Harry saved my life, and I am not letting him be hurt again. I swore I'd protect him, and I'll do whatever it takes to keep that promise."

Carefully studying her face, Morpheus nodded. "All right. But _you_ are the one who will train him. I trained the last recruit." He nodded towards Neo with the slightest hint of a smirk.

Trinity beamed. "Oh, Neo'll help me." She sent him a pointed look as he started to protest. "Won't you, dear?"

He sighed in defeat. "Of course."

-

Harry sighed, scuffing the hard, concrete floor with his worn sneakers. It had been forever since Trinity had left with Neo and the strange man, and he was starting to worry.

Following the others' disappearance, the boy had tried to distract himself by examining his surroundings, but that wore out quickly. After all, there was only so much you could do with peeling wallpaper, two ratty couches and a table.

Although, you could sit on a couch, which Harry quickly did as his feet grew tired.

As he sat waiting for Trinity to return, he contemplated his situation. A voice inside Harry screamed at him, asking him why he was willing to trust someone who had just broken into his house and murdered his uncle.

_Wouldn't that last be a point in her favor?_ Harry wondered. The voice in his head conceded the point. _Besides, she said she wouldn't let anyone hurt me, and I believe her. I like her, too. She feels...nice. So did the others, even if I wouldn't want to make that one angry._

At last the voice subsided, temporarily convinced, and just in time, as the man he didn't know stepped back into the room. Walking over to Harry, he sat down across from him.

"We were never properly introduced. I am Morpheus."

"Er... hello?" Harry offered nervously.

The newly proclaimed Morpheus studied him carefully, fiddling with a small silver box. "Why do I frighten you?"

The young boy hesitated. "You're... dangerous. So are the others, but... you the most."

Morpheus frowned. "If that is the case, then why do you trust us?"

"You're free."

The man's eyes widened. "How-"

Harry shrugged and curled up into himself on the couch, not noticing the other's shocked expression. "I don't know any other way to explain it. I never realized it before I met Trinity, but... it's like everyone is chained up, somehow, and you're not."

Morpheus seemed shaken. He hadn't quite believed Trinity's claims, but now... "I... see." Eyeing Harry closely, he nodded. "Harry, I am going to offer you a choice." He opened the box and took something from it, before holding out two clenched fists. "In my hands are two pills, one red, and one blue. If you choose the blue pill, the adventure is over and you will forget everything that has happened here. But, if you take the red pill, then the adventure continues, whether you want it to or not. Choose carefully."

Harry started to reach for the red pill, stopping as Morpheus closed his hand slightly. "Remember, after this there is no going back."

Struck by the gravity in his voice, Harry leaned back to consider his options. On the one hand, he could return to Privet Drive and resume being beaten and worked to death (although, now that Vernon was a corpse that was unlikely to continue in precisely the same fashion), or he could go with these strangers he'd just met to a place he knew nothing about.

Even with as little as he knew, the latter option sounded so much more appealing than the first. He leaned forward and took the red pill from Morpheus's hand. Looking down on it, he sighed. "I'm probably going to regret this." He tossed it back dry, taking a couple of swallows to force it down.

"So be it." Morpheus rose, beckoning for Harry to follow him. Together, they walked to another room, filled with computer equipment and, oddly enough, a broken mirror sitting next to a chair. Trinity smiled at him proudly from where she puttered over a console next to Neo. Smiling back, he sat in the chair as instructed.

"All right. The pill you took was what is called a tracer program. It will allow us to track you inside the Matrix." Taking in the confused expression, he smiled. "Everything will be explained later. Now, I'd try to relax. This will feel...a little weird."

Harry almost laughed. What else was new?

Behind him now, he could hear Trinity talking to someone on a telephone. "What do you mean you're having trouble locking? Tank, you're the best operator outside of Zion, I'm sure you can-" Anything else she said was lost, as Harry's attention was seized by the mirror he'd noticed earlier.

It was... repairing itself?

But... that was impossible, wasn't it?

_Okay, apparently not,_ he thought, studying the now flawless mirror. Frowning, he turned back to Morpheus to ask if he'd seen it. The man was watching him with a blank face, and Harry was reminded of the test he'd been given. So, this was another one, was it? Determined to pass, he turned back to the mirror, reaching out tentatively.

He gasped as his finger passed through the mirror, and jerked back, only to find that a silvery goop had covered his hand. Eyes wide, he tried to scrape it off, and the goop began to travel up his arm. "Er, Morpheus?" he asked, glancing behind. "Is this supposed to happen?"

"It varies," Morpheus replied calmly. "Although, it is most similar to Neo's induction."

"Oh? So... what happened?" he asked, turning slightly so he could see Neo.

He looked uneasy. "It might be better if I didn't tell you that. Although, I would recommend you not try and get it off. The more you struggle, the colder and faster that stuff gets."

Harry nodded, holding perfectly still as the substance crept upwards. It was almost impossible to resist the temptation to squirm, at least until Neo sent him a encouraging grin. The boy gritted his teeth as it passed his shoulder.

"Trinity, what is taking so long?" Morpheus called, the first hint of apprehension entering his voice.

"Tank says the computers can't find him. He's reprograming to go to visual search mode."

Harry shivered, trying to ignore the sensation of the stuff making its way up his neck and over his jaw. He concentrated on the others, praying for a distraction before it reached its apparent destination.

Just as he felt the goop touch his lips, he heard Trinity call out. "Got him!" Then, the world faded as it plunged down his throat.

-

The first sensation he became aware of was that of floating. The second was that he was underwater and couldn't breathe. Here, Harry decided to finally panic.

He surged upwards, and whatever was in his mouth stifled a scream as he felt something between him and air. Scrabbling desperately at it, he nearly fainted in relief as the barrier parted, and he burst out into open air.

But something was wrong. He still couldn't breathe. Harry grabbed at his face and found something over his nose and mouth. The boy tried to pull it off, and quickly discovered that it didn't come off. It came _out_. Gagging as he felt it sliding inside his throat, Harry gave it a good yank, and at last drew in a deep breath of...

The worst-smelling oxygen he'd ever had the displeasure of inhaling.

Coughing and spluttering, he only then registered that he was surrounded by a mess of cables. Idly, his eyes followed one, weaving around until it led into... him! Twisting, he could see others protuding from dozens of places all over his body.

Trying not to either hyperventilate or scream, Harry searched around for something to distract him. Grabbing onto the edge of the... pod he found himself in, he hoisted himself up until he could see over the side.

As far as his eyes could see were towers that reached up into the gloom high above and were covered with thousands of pods like his own, each glowing a calm, rosy pink and with a dark shape nestled in its depths that he suspected was another person. Great arcs of electricity traveled up the walls of the towers, and Harry ducked as one passed over him. His skin tingling, the boy slipped back down, bewildered and not a little frightened.

Suddenly, he heard a buzz from above, and something that looked like it belonged in a late-night horror movie dropped down to hover in front of him. Harry froze as the... _machine_ seemed to study him, like a sparrow watches a bug. After an endless moment, the machine moved, grabbing him around the neck.

Harry screamed as an excruciating pain lanced into the back of his head. Barely registering the removal of his various attachments, the small boy fainted.

Satisfied that its task had been completed, the DocBot sent a command to flush the growth chamber, and floated away.

-

Morpheus brought the _Nebuchadnezzar _down to just above the water, holding it there while Trinity brought the boy up. He waited until she reported him safe and sound before guiding his ship back into the safety of the sewers.

* * *

Chapter Edited 9/25/07. If you find any further spelling/grammar errors or inconsistencies, please contact the author.

Original A/N: Okay, I need some help, just in case this pops up in later chapters. I know the names of everyone in the original crew except for one. Is it Epoch or something else? And what's the Latin phrase the Oracle has above her door? I know what it means, but I've paused the movie to look at it and I can't make it out.


	3. Away From the Sun

**Warnings and Disclaimer:** Nope, nothing new. Just a few lines stolen from the movies.

* * *

Light. A light so bright it pressed against his eyelids like a physical weight. 

Then voices came. Soft, murmuring voices, whispering phrases that he only half understood.

Slowly, millimeter by painful millimeter, he levered his eyes open, flinching back as the harsh light struck them.

One of the voices spoke. "Harry? Are you awake?"

Green eyes blinked open once more, and after a moment they focused, to see a man staring down at him. Harry frowned and tried to sit up, wondering why the man looked so familiar. A hand on his shoulder stopped him, gently pushing him back to the table.

"W-what... what's going on?" Harry asked tremulously, staring at the rather large black man standing behind him.

"It's okay, Harry. We're just doing a little check-up, making sure everything's working right," the first man said soothingly. "It's nothing to worry about."

"Oh..." Harry sighed, closing his eyes wearily and relaxing. Then he frowned as he realized their aching was no longer from the light. "Why do my eyes hurt?"

He didn't see the two men exchange ironic smiles, though he did hear the first answer him. "Because you've never used them before. Now sleep. Everything will be... clearer, in the morning."

-

When Harry next awoke, he found himself lying on a bed inside a small, gray-walled room, curled beneath a thick blanket and wearing clothes nearly indistinguishable from those he'd worn at home. Disoriented, he sat up, pushing aside the blanket and quickly regretting it as he shivered in the sudden chill.

Curious, he reached out to the nearest wall, blinking in surprise as his hand touched cold metal. _Is this a cell? Am I in jail?_ he wondered silently. Uncle Vernon was always telling him horror stories about jails... It was around that time that he got a closer look at his outstretched arm.

Or, to be more specific, at the thing sticking into his arm.

Grimacing, Harry took hold of the strange contraption, bracing himself as he gave it a pull. He then proceeded to nearly faint as every nerve in his arm seemed to catch fire, all at once. _Okay, I think I'll just let that wait 'til later..._

Now trembling from more than the cold, the young boy peered more closely at where the device entered his skin. _Odd. It almost looks like an IV._

Once, when Uncle Vernon had been unusually drunk, he'd beaten Harry until he had to be sent to the hospital. The man told the doctors that the boy ran behind the car just as he was backing up, and he hadn't been able to stop in time. The injuries were severe enough that they believed him. Harry spent three weeks there, and was poked by so many needles he felt like a pincushion. One of the most constant was an IV.

The contraption was rather akin to it. Its main part was formed of a plastic tube, like the familiar hospital sight, but that was where the two began to diverge. The tube led not into a thin, hollow needle, but into a piece of metal that had attached itself to his arm. But on closer look... not all the metal was part of it.

Part of it was _him_.

As Harry's fingers reached out and traced the plug, flashes of memory began to at last return. The strange man, his uncle's death... the machine city...

The boy slowly curled into a ball, clasping himself tightly as he fought the tears burning behind his lids. He couldn't understand why they were there. It wasn't like he mourned his uncle, though he still half-expected the man to walk through the steel door and box his ears for daring to go with strangers.

Maybe it was just how _different_ the world seemed all of a sudden. Not in his wildest dreams, or nightmares, had he ever considered that something like that place could possibly exist, let alone that it did. Assuming his memories were real, of course, and not just figments of his reportedly overactive imagination.

Sighing, Harry ran his fingers through his unruly hair in a practiced gesture that never failed to clear his mind.

Wait, hair? But... in the memory he'd been bald, hadn't he...? So that couldn't be right. Though, there was that one time when Aunt Petunia shaved his hair off, and it grew back overnight. And if the memory _was_ false, then where was he?

Bewildered, the boy leaned his head back against the wall, idly tracing the plug in his arm. About five minutes later, he sat up as he heard a raucous _screee_, and the heavily reinforced door opened to reveal Trinity. Stepping inside, she closed the door behind her, and nearly dropped the tray she was holding as she turned around.

"Harry?!" she gasped, startled.

"Trinity," he nodded shakily. "Er... perhaps you can clear something up for me. Yesterday was real, right?"

"Uh... yeah. It was. Though, it was actually the day before yesterday." Her lips quirked at his obvious disbelief. "Don't worry, it's not uncommon for the newly unplugged to sleep for quite a bit after they're freed."

"Oh." Harry lowered his eyes, confused, until they came to rest on his arm. "Trinity? Can... can I ask you a question?"

"Of course you can, Harry!" Trinity said, sounding surprised. "Why wouldn't you?"

"Aunt Petunia said I wasn't supposed to."

She was silent for a long moment. "Well, you can with me, and with any of the others. And don't you forget it!" she concluded, folding her arms and mock-scowling. Unable to keep a straight face as her audience started to giggle, she smirked. "What was your question?"

Harry stifled his laughter. "Er, I was just wondering what this thing in my arm is. And why I seem to recall being bald."

"It's just something to keep you monitored, and feed you if necessary. As for the other..." She looked at him bemusedly. "That's why I was so surprised earlier. You were bald as an egg."

"Oh..." he blinked. So it was like that time when Aunt Petunia had tried to cut his hair. "That's all right, then."

Her confused expression showed she hadn't quite followed his logic, and he knew he would have to give some answers of his own later. "Well, let me get this thing out of you." She sat next to him, setting the tray down on the cot. Leaning over, she pressed carefully on a certain spot on the device, before pulling it cleanly out. When he winced expectantly, she smirked. "Tried pulling it out yourself, didn't you?"

Harry nodded guiltily.

"It's okay, everyone does. Though my husband is the only one I know of to have succeeded."

The boy shuddered. "Ow..."

Trinity laughed. "You better believe it! He never tried _that_ again!" She picked up the tray and handed to him. "Now eat your breakfast. You've got a long day ahead of you. And I'm afraid we won't have much variety in the menu until we dock in about a week, but we do have a lot of it."

Harry glanced at the tray and smiled. It was the same porridge he'd eaten at his uncle's, but in much, much larger proportions. And, when he tasted it, there was honey! He'd never been allowed to have any before... He sent his new-found guardian a grateful look and dug in.

Trinity watched him wolf down the simple nutrient porridge as though it were his last meal, and her mind drifted back to the medical report Neo and Morpheus had given them. Malnutrition, for one, and half-a-dozen poorly-healed broken bones, mostly fingers and ribs. Plus the bruises, and the scrapes... now she _really_ wished she'd let his uncle live, so she could have some... fun with him. Not that she particularly supported torture; it was just that in some situation it was called for.

Like this one.

And that business earlier, about not asking questions. Children were supposed to ask questions. Curiosity was such an integral part of their makeup that it was hard to imagine a child without it. Thankfully, Harry didn't seem to have been too affected by it, judging by the fact that he _was_ asking questions, if many fewer than new Redpills usually did.

Though maybe she ought to have included the aunt in her plans. Unlike her husband, Trinity had no compunctions about hurting other females. And she had to wonder just what the woman hadn't wanted the boy to find out...

Ah, well. There would be plenty of time for all that later. First, she had to get through enlightening her charge as to the current state of the world.

Brought out of her thoughts as Harry slowed, and stopped, she made an inquiring noise, and he looked up at her. Setting the tray back down on the bed, he gave her a small smile. "I'm not used to eating a lot. If I eat any more, I'll be sick."

Nodding in acceptance, she stood and gestured for him to precede her out the door. He stepped out into a corridor cluttered with an impenetrable maze of pipes and wiring, as well as things he could only guess at the purpose of. The boy tried to ignore the odd weakness in his muscles as he looked at Trinity for where to go.

She led him down the corridor, and eventually up a steep ramp into a wider one. Discerning a distinct lack of windows, Harry screwed up his courage. "Um, Trinity? Where are we?"

She looked back at him, smiling, and he relaxed, having unconsciously tensed. "This is our home away from home, the hovership _Nebuchadnezzar_, based out of Zion."

_Hovership? Zion?_

Storing his questions away for later, he frowned. "Nebu-...Nebuka-..." Harry sent her a helpless look, and she laughed.

"Don't worry, you'll get it eventually. Just don't think about how to spell it."

Nodding dubiously, he followed her through another doorway, trying not to grin as she had to duck through the portal while he continued blithely in. Then the urge to grin, to do anything but gape faded as he took in their surroundings.

It was some kind of cockpit, with two swivel chairs, banks of instruments, and a single, large window directly in front. Harry almost didn't notice the two men sitting in the chairs, Morpheus and another man he didn't know. Instead, his attention was taken up by the view out that window.

Walls bathed in perpetual shadows moved past them at incredible speeds, brilliant spotlights briefly illuminating metal beams and girders that jutted out into their path. For the first time Harry was aware of the sensation of movement as the ship traveled gracefully around them, a deep _thrum_ sounding in the floor beneath his feet, both soothing and disturbing in its nearly undetectable intensity.

"Have you found a place yet?" Trinity asked quietly, leaning over the seatback to peer over Morpheus's shoulder.

"Not quite... ah, there!" the other man said, studying a computer screen intently. "About four hundred meters north by northeast, in between those two pillars. There's a pretty good hardline above it."

Harry watched as the ship decelerated, coming to a hover above a small depression in the rubble that covered the ground. Gently, it sank down, until there was the slightest of jolts, and Morpheus released the controls. "All right, we should be safe. The next patrol isn't due for a couple of days." Massaging his hands, he turned, to repeat Trinity's earlier stop-and-stare performance.

"What-?" the new guy turned around, wondering what so fascinated the normally stoic man, and joined in the impromptu staring contest.

"What is it?" Harry asked nervously, wondering what he could possibly have done wrong already.

"Oh, it's nothing," the second man said in a broad Hispanic accent, shaking his head as though to clear it. "It's just that you were bald as Morpheus when we picked you up, so we were just a little... surprised by that mess up there." He gestured towards the boy's hair.

"Oh," he said, relieved that it wasn't him. Or at least, not directly him. "Er, who-?"

The man grinned cheerfully, holding out his hand. "We actually met a couple days ago, but since you were kinda unconscious at the time, I'm Tank."

Harry couldn't help but grin back as he took the proffered hand. The man practically exuded an air of caring geniality, one that set the boy at something approaching ease. "I'm Harry." He looked out the window. "Where is this?"

"The old sewer system. It's not safe to go up to the surface, so luckily there are enough of these to get around."

Harry was getting quite tired of being confused by these people. Though, he seemed to be confusing them just as much, to judge by the way Morpheus still hadn't stopped staring. Apparently, his sigh of irritation was audible to his companions, because Trinity put a hand on his shoulder.

"We could just tell you the answers, but for you to really understand them, we need to show you. So if you're ready?"

About to reply as he was led out of the cockpit, Harry frowned instead. "Why does that seem like a trick question?"

Tank laughed as he followed them out. "Smart little niño, ain't he?"

-

Trinity helped the undersized boy into the chair, adjusting it to fit his small frame. Shifting his head slightly to the side, she turned and swung herself into another chair. Behind her, Neo prepared the jack, and Tank finished downloading the loading program and walked over to Harry.

Harry himself was trying not to fidget nervously as he listened to the sounds behind him. Careful not to move his head from where Trinity had positioned it, he strained to see, and flinched in surprise as a cool hand placed itself on his forehead. Then Tank spoke.

"All right, Harry. Try to relax; this might feel a little odd."

The boy only had time to think a single thought before he felt cold metal touch the back of his head, and the world exploded.

* * *

Chapter Edited 9/20/07. If you find any further spelling/grammar errors or inconsistencies, please contact the author.

Original A/N: I debated on whether or not to finish this chapter with Harry's orientation, but that really deserves to be a chapter in itself. Not to mention I'm lazy and wanted to get a chapter out. Merry Christmas, all! (or Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, etc.) And Happy New Year's, too! And yes, I know it's too late to say it. So what?


	4. Our Time is Fading

Summary, Warnings, and Disclaimer: Y'know, I'm gonna stop telling you I'm taking quotes from the movies, 'cause you really ought to be expecting it by this point.

* * * * *

_…Where has my heart gone_

_An uneven trade for the real world_

_Oh I, I want to go back to_

_Believing in everything and knowing nothing at all…_

_-Evanescence, "Field of Innocence"_

* * * * *

            When the pain stopped Harry was left standing on an empty plane of light.  Looking around in confusion, he hissed in surprise as a voice spoke from behind him, twirling around to see Trinity sitting on a ratty old couch that he could have _sworn_ wasn't there before.

            "This is what we call a 'loading program'.  Here, anything is possible.  We can make anything, _do anything, we can possibly imagine."  She patted the couch next to her, inviting him to sit down._

            "I don't understand."  He settled gingerly onto the cushion.  "Where are we?"

            She sighed, rubbing her temples.  "How the hell does Morpheus manage this…" she muttered, before turning to the boy.  "We're…inside a computer."

            Harry took a moment to let that sink in.  "A…computer?  Like the one Dudley got for his birthday?"

            Trinity smiled.  "A bit more sophisticated, but yes, basically the same."

            "Oh."  He bit his lip.  "Er, I don't know much about computers, but…"

            "Isn't that impossible?" she finished, and he nodded.  "In the world you know, it would be, but…that world isn't real.  It's a computer-generated dreamworld, called the Matrix."

            Harry sat there, stunned.  "A dream?  But…"  His hand drifted up to cover the fading bruise on his cheek, and wide eyes turned towards Trinity, filled with a silent question.

            She sighed again.  "Harry, have you ever heard the saying 'mind over matter'?"  He nodded.  "Do you know what it means?"

            The young boy shook his head, and she thought for a moment.  "It's…the mind is a very powerful thing, Harry, so powerful that we still don't understand everything it does, or can do.  But one of the things we _have_ learned is that, if you believe in something strong enough, then your mind makes it real.  You believed that bruise would be there, so it is."

            Harry frowned, struggling with the concept.  "So, if I believed it _wasn't there, it'd go away?"_

            The woman smiled.  "Theoretically, yes, but no one's been able to fool their own minds like that yet."  She looked at him thoughtfully.  "Who knows?  Maybe you'll be the first."

            He ignored that last statement, opting to concentrate on his next question.  "If…if I was dreaming, then…you woke me up?" he asked uncertainly, frowning when she nodded.  "But why was I asleep?"

            Trinity winced.  _This_ was the part she'd been dreading.  Suppressing yet another sigh, she tried to think of a way to explain ancient wrongs to an innocent child.  "Well…do you know what 'artificial intelligence' is?"  She wasn't surprised when he answered in the negative.  "AI is what happens when a computer becomes…smart, like a person is smart.  Anyway, we're not really sure, but we think that about two hundred years ago, we created a computer like that.  And…the computer decided it didn't really like us all that much.  So, it started killing us off."

            The boy gasped.  "But…why would it do that?"

            She shrugged.  "Who knows?  Maybe it just found out about all the wars we had and thought we were a threat."  Trinity snorted.  "We probably were, back then; we sure aren't now."  Shaking her head to clear her thoughts, she continued.

            "There was a fairly short, desperate war, between us humans and the armies of machines that single intelligence created.  At the very last, we were about to lose, when some genius realized the machines depended on the sun to for energy, and came up with a way to block out that power source.  So, we blacked out the skies."

            She smiled sadly at the puzzled expression on Harry's face.  "This is part of what I meant, when I said you really wouldn't understand until I showed you."  Putting an arm around Harry, she waved a hand, and the empty plane vanished.

            Harry squeaked as they were suddenly floating above a blasted, barren wasteland, empty of life as far as his eyes could see.  Eyes wide in horror, he clung to Trinity, who wrapped her arms tightly about his trembling form.  Then, a colossal sound, like a thousand cannons being fired at once made him look up, and he cried out.

            Above them, the sky roiled sickeningly, caught in a never-ending storm of gargantuan proportions.  Thunder _roared_, and lightning flared, lighting up the clouds until it grew to be too much for his weakened eyes to take, and he buried his face into his protector's shoulder as tears rolled down his cheeks.

            "Make it…make it _stop," he pleaded, unable to even hear himself over the storm.  Yet, a moment later there was silence, and Trinity was rocking him back and forth soothingly._

            "Hush…hush, it's over.  It's alright…"  As she felt the tremors subside, she slowly pulled away.  Seeing the tears still trailing down his face, she winced.  "I'm sorry, Harry.  If I'd realized it would affect you like that…"

            Frowning in concern when there was no answer, she put a finger under his chin and lifted it gently.  "Harry?"

            He sniffed.  "How…how could they do that to the _sky?" he asked, horror filling his voice._

            "They were desperate men, Harry.  It was the only way they could see to win."

            "B-but…it didn't work, did it?"

            Trinity was silent for a moment.  "No, it didn't.  The machines found…another power source.  That's why the Matrix exists."

            Curious despite himself, he couldn't help but ask.  "What do they use now?"

            "Us."

* * * * *

                Morpheus watched the silent figure of his newest recruit, lying limp and pale in his chair.  The serious man winced when tears began to trickle from his eyes, and he wished the child had never had to go through this, never had to lose his innocence in the face of humanity's old mistakes.  But, it was necessary.

            There was no going back.

            A hand touched his shoulder, and he turned.  "Are you ready, sir?" Tank asked.  The captain nodded, settling himself into one of the remaining chairs.

            Briefly, he pitied Trinity, who had to guide her charge through the greatest changes his life would ever take.  This time, _he was the one with the painless task._

            All _he _had to do was see what interest, if any, Harry's disappearance had stirred up in the Matrix.

* * * * *

            "W-what do you mean, us?" Harry asked, taken aback.

            "You see, every living animal produces electricity; the more complex that animal is, the more it makes.  And humans are the most highly evolved on this planet.  Once the machines found a way to harness that electricity, they had all the power they would ever need."  She looked out over the empty plane, bitterness clouding her features.  "We are _grown_, Harry, grown like fields of wheat for them to consume."

            "But…why the Matrix?"

            Trinity smiled, softly, sadly.  "The greatest gifts we possess are our minds.  So, they found a way to control _those, too"_

            Suddenly weary, the nine-year-old curled up into a ball, wrapping his arms around his knees as he leaned against the woman.  "Trinity?  Do you think we could go home now?  I don't want to know any more today."

            She laughed.  "Of course, Harry."  Glancing upwards, she called out.  "Tank!  We're ready to end the program."

* * * * *

            Tank carefully eased the jack out of Harry's skull, watching closely until the boy's eyes fluttered open.  "You alright there, Harry?"

            It was a second before he nodded uncertainly, and the operator helped him up.  Beside them, Neo did the same for his wife.

            "Tank?" Trinity requested.  "Do you think you could take Harry back to his room?  I'm going to wait for Morpheus to check in, see what he found out."

            He nodded and took the still rather dazed child's hand, gently tugging him off the chair and out of the room.  A couple of silence-filled minutes later, they reached Harry's new home.

            "Alright, Harry.  I want you to get some sleep, okay?  You've got a big day tomorrow."  Tank smiled as the kid gave him a sleepy yawn and lay down on the bed, where he was asleep almost before his head touched the pillow.  Suppressing a chuckle, he pulled the blanket up until it covered the frail body, and stepped out of the cubicle.

            "Sueños buenos, Harry."

* * * * *

            Severus Snape was scowling.

            Not that that was anything unusual, given that he was almost always scowling- except for those times when he was smirking maliciously, of course.  But what _was unusual was that the person he was scowling at was a muggle._

A muggle he was currently holding at wand point.

            "I _know_ your husband is dead, you fool woman!  I want to know where your _nephew_ is!" he bellowed, fed up with the woman's hysterics, which she'd launched in to the moment she opened the door.  After only a minute of the tears and babbling, he'd been unable to resist pulling his wand.

            Suppressing a sigh of relief when she immediately shut up, he glared at her.  "Now, you _are Petunia Dursley, correct?"_

            The horse-like woman stared at him, wide-eyed.  "Y-you…you're one of those _freaks."  The last word was spat out with such venom the Slytherin briefly wondered whether there might be a snake somewhere in her ancestry._

            "I beg your pardon-" he began, incensed, before she cut him off.

            "Look, I don't care what you _people want, so you can just turn around and leave before someone sees you," she hissed, and tried to slam the door in his face._

            Pale with fury, Severus pushed open the door and stormed inside.  "I think _not.  I was sent by Headmaster Dumbledore to check on the boy, and will __not leave until I have done so!"_

            He was shocked when she laughed hysterically.  "You want to see the boy?  I wish you luck, then!  The useless brat disappeared the same day my poor Vernon was murdered.  And good riddance!"

            The Potions Master was left speechless- quite a comical sight, actually, and one that would have shocked his coworkers.  After all, the greasy-haired man always had a snarky comment ready for any situation.

            But apparently he didn't have one for when the hope of the wizarding world vanished into thin air.

            Then, as a question struck his mind, Severus turned to the smirking woman.  "You're telling me, that the boy you were supposed to _protect_ has been missing for _two days_, and you haven't reported it."  His voice was calm, calm almost to the point of frigidity, which in itself should have warned his victim.

            Unfortunately, the…_female_, he hesitated to call her a woman, seemed to lack a survival instinct as well as familial loyalties as she snorted.  "If I reported him and they found the brat, they'd bring him back here.  And I have had _enough of that…abnormality ruining our lives.  Ungrateful for everything we gave him, and always doing _freakish_ things-"_

            "_Silencio_."

            Albus would undoubtedly get on his case for hexing a muggle, but the ex-Death Eater had heard enough.  He supposed it _was possible that the Potter boy was as much of a poor excuse for a human being as his aunt seemed to believe, but looking around, seeing the cold house, the family pictures on the wall displaying a distinct lack of a lightning-bolt scar…_

            Somehow, he doubted it.

            Thoughts running furiously through his mind, Severus stalked out  of the house and around the back, out of the sight of muggles, before he disapperated back to Hogsmead.  Conveniently forgetting to take the spell off the muggle, of course. 

            No, the Headmaster would _not be happy with this latest turn of events._

* * * * *

            Morpheus frowned in concentration from where he'd been beneath the window as he watched the man wearing a black…_dress?...walk out the door of Harry's house.  Carefully, he tried to follow him as he marched around to the house's rear,  and nearly growled in frustration as he found the man had already vanished._

            Who was he, and why was he so interested in the child?  According to the district records the family wasn't all that wealthy, merely well-to-do, and none were related to anyone important.  Though, there _had been that odd scarcity of information about Harry's parents, the files merely stating that they were deceased._

            Well, whoever he was, he didn't seem to intend to harm Harry, nor did this _Dumbledore_ person.  The captain would have to be satisfied with that.

            Now to report back to the _Nebuchadnezzar._

* * * * *

Translation:

sueños buenos- actually supposed to be 'sweet dreams', but the translation for that didn't sound right, so I made it 'good dreams' instead.

* * * * *

A/N:  Well, I hope this chapter wasn't _too painful for you.  At least now that it's over with I can get to writing the _fun_ stuff._

And I finally got around to introducing my second HP character.  Who is probably _way_ OC, but oh well.

Review Responses:

Thx to: **DaRkY-cHaN, ****flying monkey, ****GrimmyD, and **secret3**.**

**Danny-DaWriter**:  Eventually I will.  It's rather far in the future, though.

**Eclectic Angel**:  Thank you! ^_^  It might be cheating, but originality is one of the things I try to go for when I write, since that way no one can say there are fics about that subject better than mine ^_~.

**Mithros**:  *subsides* Oh, that's okay then…  I tend prefer long fics that are regularly updated, but that's just me.

**Selena**:  Hogwarts is in the plans, yes.

**Thunder-CN**:  Thx, I'll check that against the movie.

Okay, I'm gonna end this with an advertisement for any Neopets players out there.  My friend and I have just started a guild for fanfic writers, called 'the Fanfic Emporium'.  Come and join!


	5. Somewhere I Belong

Summary, Warnings, and Disclaimer: I hereby dedicate this chapter to **A**, who came up with that wonderful scene between Morpheus and Trinity.

* * * * *

_Goodbye, the future's sold out_

_There's no use screaming_

_Who thought we'd ever get this far?_

_Tonight, your faith has come down_

_To money and a TV_

Psychics who've never been to Mars 

_And Nazis breast feeding_

_I know you must be upset_

_I can't find meaning_

_I'm sorry, we're sorry_

_We're all scared, all scared_

_-Our Lady Peace, "Is Anybody Home"_

* * * * *

Trinity gently slid the jack out and stepped back as Morpheus sat up, rubbing his head.  "Well?  What happened?" she asked impatiently.

The hovership captain lifted a brow, amused, and she flushed.  "We were lucky.  It would seem that more attention is being paid to the uncle's murder than to Harry's disappearance.  Apparently, his aunt has yet to even report it to the police.  Although…" he frowned.  "There _was_ one man who seemed concerned.  I couldn't hear much, but I believe he was sent by someone to check up on the boy."

His companion snorted bitterly.  "A bit late to be checking up on him now, isn't it?  Where the hell were they when his uncle was beating him?"

Morpheus shook his head, sighing.  After a moment, he looked at his shipmate.  "How is he?"

"He's…" she hesitated.  "I don't know.  He was taking it rather well, I thought, until I showed him the sky.  Then…" Trinity echoed Morpheus's sigh.  "I had Tank put him to bed afterwards.  We'll just have to see how he is when he wakes up."

The man nodded.  "Truthfully, that is better than I had hoped for.  Certainly better than Neo's reaction."  He smiled.  "Perhaps there is a grain of wisdom after all in only waking children.  They seem to bounce back more easily."

Trinity didn't answer, lost in her thoughts.  Worried, she decided to bring up something that had been troubling her for the last couple of days.  "Morpheus?  How soon will we get back to the City?"

He looked startled.  "A week, at the most."

She wet her lips and looked down, disappointed. "Oh.  That's…what I thought."

"What's wrong?"

"It's…it's just that…when we get there, Harry'll go to the orphanage, and I'll only be able to see him in between tours," she finished, the last coming out in a rush.

When after nearly a minute passed and she heard nothing, Trinity looked up to see Morpheus watching her thoughtfully.  "You have grown attached to the boy."

She snorted.  "You could say that.  And don't tell me you haven't."

Morpheus's gaze softened.  "Perhaps."  He studied her face.  "Would you prefer he not leave?"

She blinked, frowning in disbelief.  "What do you mean?  We can't take him with us!"  Her eyes widened as the captain stayed stubbornly silent.  "Morpheus, that's a _war_ out there!  Even if he _was_ the One, even if he _could_ fight Agents, would he?  How could a child survive in a world where everyone is an enemy?"

He sighed, and met her gaze with eyes of stone.  "From what you've told me, Trinity, that's exactly the kind of world he was in."

Trinity paused, her mouth open to retort.  After a moment she sagged, closing her eyes wearily.  "It will be _his_ decision, One or not," she said quietly, a breath of steel sliding beneath the velvet.

He nodded, and for a minute there was only silence.

"We can't stay here.  I'll take the first patrol watch, if you'll send Neo up to relieve me in a couple hours.  It would be best if you were there to reassure him in the morning, and for that you will need your sleep."

Still silent, Trinity stood and walked out.

* * * * * (The next morning)

"Harry, chico?  You awake?"

The nine-year-old blinked his eyes open and looked towards the sound of the voice, smiling as he saw Tank's head poking through the door.  "If I wasn't, I am now," he said quietly, grinning.

Tank grinned back, a bit embarrassed.  "Right!  Well…seeing as you slept through dinner last night, I figured you might want to eat some breakfast with us."

At this point Harry's stomach rumbled, apparently deciding to take matters into its own hands.  He looked down and started to laugh.  Tank joined him, until abruptly the lad stopped.  "Chico?"

The boy glanced up at him, smiling uncertainly.  "I…it's just that, I've laughed more in the past two days than…than I've _ever_ laughed."

Tank studied him carefully, biting his lip.  "You alright there, Harry?" he asked, sounding concerned.

Letting his eyes fall closed, Harry sighed softly.  The deep bass _thrum_ of the ship's engines cut through his bones, a constant, compelling counterpoint to his every thought and action, and one that was already beginning to feel…familiar.  Maybe even homelike.  "Yeah."

With a broadening smile, Harry opened his eyes.  "Yeah, I think I am."

* * * * *

Trinity stumbled blearily into the mess hall, rubbing a hand across her eyes in a mostly useless attempt to wake herself up.  Mornings was one of the few times she wanted to punch her husband, who she had discovered after their marriage to be one of those most-terrifying of humans: a morning person.

Which she was _not_.

In fact, she pondered mustily as she sat down at the table, she was the only person on board who wasn't.  Tank was almost _nauseatingly_ chipper in the mornings, and Morpheus…well, Morpheus could never be called _chipper_, but he certainly wasn't ready to bite off heads when he had to wake up early.

_Well, maybe Harry will be different,_ she thought, shoveling up the first spoonful of mush.

That hope was quickly crushed as Tank entered, engaged in conversation with the aforementioned boy, who was smiling cheerfully at the much larger man.  Groaning, Trinity buried her head in her arms.  "I'm doomed…"

Harry paused in the doorway, staring at the disconsolate woman.  "What-?"

"Don't mind her," said a voice from behind him, making him jump, and he glanced back to see a smirking Neo standing behind him.  "She…isn't fond of mornings."

After a moment he giggled and let Neo lead him to a place.  "Good morning," he said with a bright grin, leaning over to his erstwhile protector.

One eye flickered open, glaring blearily over her arm.  "Shut up."

The others laughed.  She sat up, picking up her spoon and digging determinedly into her porridge as she ignored them.  Around her, her shipmates pulled out their breakfasts and followed her example.

A couple minutes later Neo looked up from the meal.  "What sims are you going to start him on?" he asked the operator, an odd glint in his eye.

Tank frowned thoughtfully.  "I haven't really decided yet, actually.  We'll want to feed him up a bit before we start anything really physical, so combat's out."

"Sims?" Harry asked, curious.

Neo and Tank exchanged a Look, simultaneously breaking out into grins.  Together, they rose and took the boy by the arms, pulling him gently but inexorably towards the door.

Trinity glanced up just as they vanished out the exit.  "Be careful," she called, before letting her head sink back into her arms.

* * * * *

Harry stared nervously at the jacks, remembering the last time he'd laid down in their chairs.

"Alright."  Tank turned to the boy.  "Harry, is there ever been _anything_ you wanted to do, more than anything in the whole world?"

He frowned momentarily, before breaking out into a wistful smile.  "Well…I've always wished I could fly…"

The operator blinked.  "Waddaya know, looks like we've got a pilot in the making!  What do you think we should start with?" he asked Neo.

"Hangliding, maybe an ultralight after that," Neo said decisively, studying the boy.  "I'm not sure he could handle anything bigger yet, and with those we can always disengage the program if something goes wrong."

"Alright, chico, you heard him!"  He beckoned Harry over to the jack.  "Let's get you in the air."

* * * * *

Morpheus stretched as Trinity relieved him at the helm, walking back to the corridor that stretched the length of the ship.  Hearing excited voices, he strolled down into the jack chamber to find a jacked-in Harry and both Tank and Neo bent over a monitor.

"What's this?" he inquired, mildly amused as the two men jumped.

"Morpheus!" Neo exclaimed, grinning.  "I was wondering when you'd show up!  We've just been putting Harry through the flight simulator."

The captain lifted an eyebrow in interest.  "Oh?"

They grinned at each other.  "The kid's a natural," Tank said, still grinning.  "We started him out on a hanglider, and he took to it like a fish to water.  See?"  He moved aside so the other man could see the screen, where a figure swooped gracefully through the air.

Morpheus studied him, eyes narrowed.  "The child seems to have adapted well to the Matrix," he observed thoughtfully.

Tank and Neo imperceptibly stiffened.  "Does that mean we'll be taking him through the Jump sooner?" the operator asked with deliberate casualness.

The captain's gaze turned to the others, leaving them wiggling uncomfortably.  After a second he glanced back at the screen, where the tiny shape continued to fly with a nearly palpable joy.

"We will see."

* * * * *

A/N:  Not a lot to say with this one.  I do have one question, though.  Harry _will_ be going to Hogwarts, and this _will_ follow the books, but should I do this all in one story or make this a prelude and start Year 1 with a new story?  I'm leaning towards the latter right now.

Review Responses:

Thx to: **/^_\\\**, **angel74**, **Drusilla**, **Ibozun**, **insanechildfanfic**, **ladydeath**, **LadyDeath1**, **Projekt****(****ION**, **scifimimi**, and **spacecatdet****.**

**LordofLight331**:  *grins* I like to think of unique as my specialty.  And as for hints to the plot…they're in there.  You just have to really think about it.

**Serpent of Rock**:  Thank you!  *blinks*  You haven't even seen the movies?

**simpleinsanity**: Thx!  And this'll take a little something from each movie; i.e., I'm planning on bringing in Link later on.

**Viraten**:  Actually, what I'm planning is a bit different.  For one thing, Harry's the first wizard to ever be freed, though I probably shouldn't be telling you that…  And the difference between wizards and muggles will more genetic.  

*blinks* Don't the wizards _already_ have special powers in the Matrix?

And don't worry, the Oracle's coming up.

**ZeonReborn**:  *grins* I'm still working the last bits of that out.  Like how the hell you explain computers to wizards…let alone that they're living in one…

I _am_ planning for at least one person to be freed, probably two, possibly three...  Do you have any suggestions?

Come on!  You know you want to push that little…what color _is _that button, anyway?  Lavender?


	6. The Impossible

Summary, Warnings and Disclaimer: What? You were expecting something here? Greedy bastards...

* * *

_Lying awake_

_Don't ask why you should pay for this_

_A mother_

_Another_

_A shameless abusing_

_But this time we're saving you…_

_-Our Lady Peace, "Lying Awake"_

* * *

It was all Neo could do not laugh out loud in delight as he watched his wife's charge. Going through the flight simulation had turned out to be a stroke of genius, he reflected, as for the first time since the freedom fighter had known him Harry acted his age. Face animated, tales of his exploits tumbling from his lips, he was, Neo was sure, one of the most wonderful things he had ever seen.(1)

He wasn't his only audience, though. Morpheus walked with them, only the slightest of smiles betraying his own pleasure. Glancing sideways at the child, the captain was beginning to understand just why Trinity had insisted on taking him on board, and even blessed her for it. Harry was just what they needed, to relieve the tension and bitter memories of Cipher's betrayal, and the deaths of most of the crew.

Both men looked up automatically as the watch chime rang through the ship, and Neo grimaced. "My turn," he said, sighing. Smiling apologetically at Harry, he split off in the direction of the cockpit, to relieve Tank at the controls.

Harry watched him go, before turning to Morpheus quizzically. "Um, sir? Where are we going?"

Morpheus smiled. "The mess hall. I'm afraid we were so absorbed in the simulation that we both missed lunch."

The boy blinked in surprise, and the captain realized he must not even have noticed. "Oh." After a moment of chagrin, he brightened. "Will Trinity be there?"

"Possibly," he replied, chuckling. As the two resumed their course, the man couldn't help muse over how much having Harry on board had already changed them. Tank had done his best to maintain ship's morale even after the death of his brother Dozer by keeping upbeat, but his cheer had always seemed… forced. Over the last two days, Morpheus had watched his jokes and smiles become more sincere.

And Neo and Trinity. Even if they never said anything, he knew they had always blamed themselves for the mutiny. But Harry had, if not lifted their burden, at least eased their guilt. And even the normally reserved Morpheus found himself enjoying the boy's company.

Trinity looked up as they entered the mess hall, lingering over her dinner. An eyebrow lifted in surprise at the wide grin on her ward's face, before she smiled herself. "So," she said casually, though she couldn't hide the laughter in her eyes. Shoving her tray to the side, she continued. "I heard you were running a flying sim. How'd you like it?"

Morpheus watched as Harry practically bounced over to the woman's side, and went to one of the vacuum-sealed compartment that held food supplies. Keying it open, he pulled out two of the so-called "dinner specials", and placed them in the microwave. Then he turned his head, startled, as a resounding clatter rang from behind.

* * *

Trinity blinked as the ring of metal echoed through the air, gazing down at what was left of her dinner after Harry's elbow caught the tray and knocked it off the table. As the echo faded, she looked up, and gasped.

The nine-year-old was hugging himself tightly, standing completely still with his eyes squeezed shut. Confused, the woman watched him until she realized his lips were moving, and leaned forward to listen.

_"Stupid, stupid boy. Can't do anything right…"_ he murmured softly, shuddering. _"Useless, should have died, shouldn't ever have been born… worthless little freak…"_

_Oh, fucking hell..._ Trinity moved, faster than she ever thought she could outside of the Matrix. In an eyeblink she was kneeling beside the child, hands on his shoulders. "Harry!"

Instantly his eyes flew open, and she couldn't help but flinch back at the fear she saw in them. She gathered him into her arms, rocking him back and forth until he relaxed slightly. "Harry, do you remember our promise?" Tremulously he nodded, and she pulled back a few inches. "What did we promise?"

"You… you said, you'd protect me, if I… if I didn't call myself…" The boy dropped green eyes to the floor, ashamed.

"If you never called yourself a freak again," she finished softly, putting a finger under his chin and lifting it up. "Do you know _why_ I wanted you to promise me that?"

Eyes wide, Harry shook his head. "N-no."

"It's because you _aren't_ one. Your bastard of an uncle only told you that because he wanted to hurt you, to make himself feel more important. _You're not a freak_."

"But I am." He shook his head as she started to protest. "I _am_. I have to be. That's the only- the only explanation."

"Harry? What are you talking about?" Trinity asked uneasily, for the first time wondering if maybe she was missing something.

Harry's emerald eyes widened, and he looked away. "Er… do you remember, when we first met, how… you asked why my uncle called me a freak?"

The woman nodded, the memory prompting a frown on her lovely face. "Yeah. You said it was because… things happen around you?" she finished uncertainly, looking at him for confirmation.

He nodded, glancing over at Morpheus for the first time, as though only just recalling his presence. The dark man leaned against the wall, seemingly emotionless as he listened to their conversation, but Trinity's experienced eye could pick out the concern in his features. "Weird things. Things that… shouldn't have happened, shouldn't be _able_ to happen."

Unbidden, her mind flashed back to the memory of the Agent, gazing down at hem and none the wiser… On the other side of the room, Morpheus spoke quietly. "Like what?"

Harry shuddered, a flicker of fear crossing his face, before settling into a mask of wariness, and Trinity realized what was wrong.

With the slightest of smiles, she took the boy by the shoulders again, waiting until he looked into her face before speaking. "Harry, we won't abandon you, no matter what you tell us. You need to _know_ that. We couldn't- you're one of us now. You're _safe_." _Well, as safe as a human being can be in this world_, she thought cynically.

Gently, she gathered him into a hug, only releasing him when she felt his muscles relax slightly. Pulling away, Harry looked over at Morpheus, who nodded in silent agreement. After a moment of obviously gathering his courage, he nodded as well.

"Last year, during school- my cousin Dudley and his gang were chasing me around. I tried to get away by jumping on a dumpster, and ended up on the roof instead. I was suspended for three days for climbing on school property. And just… other stuff like that."

When for a minute there was silence, the boy began to back away. "I- I'm sorry, I shouldn't have-" Shock appeared on his face as Trinity laughed in relief.

"Harry, Harry, it's alright! Things like that…" She trailed off, shaking her head. "Look, remember what I told you about the Matrix? About how it's a different world, a fake one? It's _not real_; therefore you can do things in it that aren't real. You can be faster, stronger-" here she stared at him pointedly, "and _jump higher_. You're not a freak, Harry. We _all_ can do that in the Matrix."

The dark-haired boy watched her doubtfully. "But-"

The woman cut him off, shaking her head and ignoring the little niggling feeling at the back of her mind that said she was forgetting something important. "You need proof, right?" She turned to Morpheus. "Can you load the Jump program for us?"

The older man nodded, and led the way.

* * *

This time as Harry approached the jacks he felt far less apprehensible than before, having seen they could hold both terror and wonder in equal measure. Admittedly, he was curious about the proof his new foster-mother said she could give him about his not being _one of those freaks_, but he was still skeptical. After all, she _had_ brushed him off when he tried to remind her that it hadn't all been in the Matrix.

His hair'd regrown right here, in the so-called _real world_.

Shrugging mentally, he lay down in the chair, shifting around in an attempt to find the most comfortable position. He watched as Morpheus jacked Trinity in, and circled around behind the boy. There was the burst of light behind his eyes, rapidly becoming familiar, if not comforting, and then he was standing next to Trinity on the blank field.

"Ready, Harry?" she asked, glancing at him from the corner of her eye.

"You know, you people seem to be asking me that a lot," he replied, trying to recover from his embarrassing nervous breakdown. He was rewarded with a laugh, before Trinity spoke to the open air.

"All right, load it."

Harry jumped as it seemed like buildings rushed up from beneath them, and yet had been there all along. When the odd feeling ended, the duo was standing on the flat roof of a skyscraper, in an unfamiliar city.

A hand touched his shoulder, and the boy looked up to see Trinity watching him intently. "You never said whether you were ready or not."

He blinked as he really thought about it for the first time. "How can someone tell whether they're ready for something they know nothing about? I should be asking _you_ if I'm ready."

Her lips twitched as she conceded the point. "You know… I think you might just be." Hand still on his shoulder, she led the boy a bit closer to the edge. "Now… remember. The Matrix isn't real, so you can do impossible things here."

She leaned down, to stare him in the eyes. "All you have to do is _believe_."

And with that, she turned and took a running leap off the building.

Harry cried out in shock as she left the edge, only to swallow it as she kept going, flying up in a leap that would have left Olympians throwing in the towel and muttering hopelessly about steroids. He watched, breathlessly, until she landed safely with a _thud_ on the next building, over fifty meters away.

He then proceeded to gulp as the distant figure turned and beckoned for him to join her. Edging forward slightly, he peered over the lip of the building, barely holding in a gasp as he realized just how high he was off the ground.

This wasn't _anything_ like hang gliding.

As Trinity waved again, shouting incomprehensible encouragement, Harry backed away a couple meters, rubbing his temples. Trying to block out the sight of the giddying height before him, he clenched his eyes shut as hard as he could, telling himself he _could_ do this.

But damn it all, he didn't _want_ to do it! What he wanted, more than anything, was to have it already be over, and to be standing there next to Trinity, safe, like she always made him feel.

Lost in his thoughts, Harry never heard the _pop_, like someone bursting a balloon next to his ear. But he _did_ hear the startled gasp that came from no more than a short distance in front of him.

Confused, he opened his eyes, to find himself looking into Trinity's stunned features.

* * *

1. Minds _out_ of the gutter, people, if you please.

* * *

A/N: /blinks/ Well, that was unexpected. I wasn't planning on getting to the Jump until _next_ chapter.

Okay, part of the reason this chapter was so late was due to the complete reworking of the plot I did after reading **A**'s excellent review.

Kou: Don't forget the procrastination issue.

Um, right, that too. Oh, and this is Koukennin. If you want the full introduction, go read the author's note at the end of SoM's chapter four.

Anyway, now that school's out, I should be able to write a bit more regularly, even though I won't be able to post as often. You see, I spend most of the summer with my cyberphobic father.

Kou: You realize you're going to have to force him to get Internet access this year, right? You're not going to survive Physics if you don't.

Yeah, I know. Now I just have to decide how I'm going to go about it.

* * *

Review Responses:

Our thanks to: **Anonymous9, CrazyBlueKitty, dmc, DragonArmada, EvilExpressions, Fenix2, Kara, LadyDeath1, Mikito, Queen of the Elven City, scifimimi, Selena, SilverStreakH, SmacksKiller, ssjztrunks, Videl86, wizardmon92, x, **and **Y401-F4N.**

**A**: /beams/ Thank you!

Okay, after reading your review I thought a lot about what I was doing with this, and decided to adapt my plot to some of your brilliant ideas. I won't tell you which ones, though!

And the quote was actually pretty good, though I'll probably rewrite it.

**annon**: I thought about it, but I'm still working that part out.

And who says the computers _don't_ know?

**Anora**: /gapes/ You know, you're the first person to get it right. And the concept of reality _is_ a part of it.

**Bort**: Nope! That's one of the plot quirks.

**holydak1**: It'll be a while. Harry's kind of young for that yet, especially since he isn't the healthiest.

**Ibozun**: I thought about making this Matrix-centric, but I don't know it like I know Harry Potter. Sorry.

**JuMiKu**: Um. Does the threat still stand?

**Kitsune****-Chan 8**: You know, I didn't really see that parallel until after you pointed it out. They really are a lot alike, aren't they? They even have the same roles. And it _is_ a definite possibility.

There were magical people, I'll say that much.

You're not the only one curious about that. I think I have it pretty much worked out, though.

That's a good thought; I'll have to see if I can work the ruins in somehow.

Actually, Zion's located pretty close (relatively) to where the city in the movie is. I'm making it New York, so Zion's either under America or under the Atlantic Ocean.

Snape as the Frenchman… /shudders/ Creepy thought.

Yeah, everyone's themselves; I don't really like fics that only take the circumstances and not the characters. The characters make the story, after all.

Um. That last one's the most likely, to tell you the truth.

I haven't really thought about when I'll put Smith in, but I'm planning on it.

**Molly Morrison**: Well, I kind of cheated on that part, didn't I?

He will, probably in the next couple of chapters.

**Neo Anderson**: Let's see- first question, wizard.

That's undecided at the moment. Mione probably, not sure about Ron.

He'll be able to do it, and might end up to prove a point, but it might just be considered wandless magic, or telekinesis.

Um. Big unknown there.

Definitely AU, though it will follow _some_ canon. Going to Hogwarts, magic, and all that.

/smirks/ Who says he's going to tell Dumbledore about the Matrix at all?

(And who says he doesn't already know?)

Thank you! Wondering what it was has been driving me crazy.

Dammit! I was hoping no one would notice that! I forgot to mention anything about them in the first two chapters, so I've just kind of been ignoring it, and hoping it'll go away.

**Olivia Wood**: In a way, they're both, but I'm not saying any more just yet.

**rene994**: Um. That's what I was kind of thinking, actually.

**serpent**: Oh, he still has magic- you don't need to worry about that.

**Serpent of Light**: Yeah, I just can't imagine Harry _not_ flying, plus it's a part of the plot.

**Starlight Dreams**: This chapter probably went a bit toward answering that question, but yes, he has magic, and will be going to Hogwarts, though I'll be altering the canon stuff.

**Viraten**: That an interesting idea…

And no, all characters are themselves. I don't really like metaphorical fics.

* * *

/collapses in a heap/ Three months… how'd I let this go for three months?

Hey, don't blame me.

I'm not, Kou. I'm just relieved I'm starting to get back on track. Now I'd better post this before my mom wakes up and asks why I've snuck out after bedtime to get on the computer…


	7. Better Life

* * *

Summary, Warnings, and Disclaimer: _Why_ do I even bother with this?

* * *

"Some people see things that are and ask, Why?

Some people dream of things that never were and ask, Why not?

Some people have to go to work and don't have time for all that st."

_-George Carlin_

* * *

Morpheus stared at the screen, mute with shock. That was… no. It wasn't impossible, since it _had_ happened, so it was… improbable.

Improbable he could handle. It described every day of their existence, after all.

Of course, the improbable had never hit them quite so hard and fast before as it had these last few days, but again, nothing they couldn't handle. Though of all the years he'd been unplugged from the Matrix, he had _never_ missed getting plastered as much as he did right now.

Sighing, he walked over to the wall and activated the intercom. "Tank, I need you to come relieve me in the jack chamber. I need to jack in for a few minutes."

* * *

Trinity stared down at the child, who looked like he was wishing he could dig a hole and hide in it. "Harry…?"

Biting his lip, the boy straightened. "Y-yes, Trinity?"

"Could you teach me how to do that?" she asked, face splitting into a wide grin.

Harry gaped at her in disbelief. "What? But-"

"Because _that_ was one of the coolest things I've _ever_ seen!" she went on, grabbing the boy and twirling him in a hug. "Please, please, _please _teach me?"

"Um, sure," Harry agreed uncertainly, hugging her back. "Just as soon as I figure out how _I_ did it," he added under his breath as she let go. 

He looked out over the edge as his foster-mother rambled on. Just how _had_ he done it, anyway? One second he was wishing he was standing next to Trinity, and the next, he was. But… it couldn't be as simple as just _wanting_ it, could it? Because he'd _wanted_ so many things that never came, like for actual toys to play with, for Uncle Vernon to stop beating him, for a family that loved him…

His eyes widened, as Harry thought that over again. Uncle Vernon certainly was never going to beat him again- in fact, he was probably already six feet under. Toys… the memory of the simulation flew through his mind, and he grinned. Who the hell needed _toys_ when they could have the real thing?

Well, sort of the real thing.

And as for a loving family… Harry glanced back at Trinity's enthusiastic face. He had that now, didn't he? Provided he hadn't screwed it up with this last adventure, of course, though if Trinity was any example of how the others were going to react, that wouldn't be a problem.

Trinity was like the mother he'd never had, and Neo would be the father… Tank seemed more like the indulgent uncle, and Morpheus was perfect for the role of the strict grandfather. He still wasn't sure what they saw in _him_, but he knew that at this point he wouldn't give them up.

He couldn't.

"Morpheus! Did you _see_ that?" Harry turned as Trinity spoke, to see the man had appeared on the rooftop while he was distracted.

"Yes, I did, and it was most… interesting." The dark man studied the boy intently through narrowed eyes, and Harry found himself struggling not to squirm. "Do you think you could do that again, if it was needed?"

Harry swallowed. "I… don't know, sir. I can try."

Morpheus nodded, looking out over the rooftop. "There," he said, pointing to an upthrust ventilation shaft. "Try teleporting next to the vent." If there was the slightest of pauses before he managed to say "teleporting", no one was going to call him on it.

Harry turned towards the vent, closing his eyes and mentally _willing_ himself to be there, straining with every fiber of his being.

And nothing happened.

Frowning, he opened his eyes and looked at the vent as his thoughts raced. Why wasn't it working? He was doing everything he'd done before… No. He wasn't.

With a triumphant smile, Harry closed his eyes again, and built a picture in his mind, of _himself_, standing next to the ventilation duct.

This time he heard the pop, as air rushed to fill the space he'd just occupied.

* * *

Tank expertly disengaged the jack, pulling it smoothly out of the back of Harry's head. As the boy opened his eyes, he smiled. "Hola, chico. Heard you've been surprising the captain again." He leaned in closer, whispering conspiratorially. "You really shouldn't be doin' that, you know. He isn't as young as he used to be, and we wouldn't want to be giving the old man a heart attack, now would we?" 

Harry choked as he snickered helplessly, trying and failing to imagine anything that would scare the stolid man into heart failure. Grinning, Tank helped him up, then walked over to unplug the others.

Yawning, the emerald-eyed boy leaned back against the reclining chair. He was surprised at how much more tired he felt, now that he was back in the real world. But then, the adrenaline had long ago worn off, so it really shouldn't be surprising. He lifted a hand to cover another yawn as Trinity walked up.

"Tired?" she asked with a smile, leaning against the chair.

"A little," Harry answered, smiling back. "I guess teleportation takes it right out of me."

"I'm not surprised, considering what it entails." At his confused look she went on. "Well, think about it! You have to move every single molecule of your body over a distance. It has to be the same distance for each of them, and they have to arrive in the same formation that they were before. To do all that, even unconsciously, must be…" She shook her head wordlessly. "I mean, imagine if it didn't work, and you left a part behind, or something."

"…Eep." Harry sat up, wide-eyed and a bit green. "I hadn't thought of _that_."

Trinity opened and closed her mouth, chagrined. "I didn't mean it like that, I just… Look, forget I said anything, 'kay? If nothing's happened yet, it's probably not going to. Don't be afraid to try just because I opened my big mouth."

Though he still looked a tad worried, nevertheless Harry nodded, and she smiled in relief, glad she hadn't ruined it for him. "Well, if you're tired, we should probably get you to bed."

"Not yet." They both turned, and found Morpheus standing behind them, a stern look on his face as he frowned at Harry.

"Sir?" he asked, dropping his eyes to the ground as he wondered if he'd done something wrong after all.

The look, as well as the tone, changed, becoming almost… paternal. "With everything that was going on, I'm afraid we forgot something." Hopefully, the boy glanced up through his unruly bangs, and Morpheus actually… _smiled?_ "You still haven't eaten dinner."

After a moment of disbelief, Harry nodded, breaking out into the most genuine smile any of them had yet seen from the diminutive boy. "Yes, sir."

* * *

Severus rubbed a hand across his weary face as he bent over the steaming cauldron. The last few days had not been… pleasant. Which was an understatement to top all previous declarations.

Ever since they'd found out about Potter's disappearance, Albus Dumbledore, someone that the Slytherin had come to respect above all others for his kindness and understanding, had spent most of the time with his temper on a hair-thin trigger. That temper, when they were alone, had frequently erupted into cataclysmic rages, while Severus did his best not to cower in terror.

He couldn't understand why. Sure, they'd lost the child everyone in the wizarding world looked to as their savior, but… it seemed like Albus's fury was caused by something else, something deeper. In all his years teaching at Hogwarts, and even as a student, he'd _never_ seen anything like this from the older man.

And it scared him. Dear Merlin, but it scared him.

* * *

Trinity smiled, looking down at the boy's sleeping figure. His face was peaceful, far more so than she'd ever seen it before, a small, quiet smile creasing his features. Sighing, she bent down and pressed a gentle kiss to his forehead, then backed out of the small cabin.

Outside, Morpheus was waiting for her. "Is he all right?"

The woman nodded, feeling like her smile was permanently welded to her face. "Yeah."

Together, they walked through the ship's passages, ducking with long familiarity pipes and bundles of wires. Trinity could tell Morpheus had something he wanted to get off his mind, and she knew from experience that the best way to get him to talk was just to listen.

And sure enough, a minute later he sighed. "I wanted to thank you, Trinity."

She paused, startled. "For what?"

He gestured back towards where Harry was sleeping. "For him. The last few days… Even in the bad moments, I don't think any of us have been happier. Even, and perhaps especially him."

After a moment, Trinity bowed her head. "I'm not the one to thank, but… I understand what you mean."

The captain started walking again, and she followed. "Are you still against the possibility of the child staying with us?"

Her lips quirked. "Not so much anymore, truthfully."

"Good." Morpheus smiled again, to her surprise. _Two_ smiles out of him, in one day? Maybe miracles _did_ happen. "I have been considering the matter, and… when we return to Zion, I am planning to take him as my apprentice. The Council will bee surprised, but if he accepts they won't be able to stop it."

_Apprentice?!_

"The Council… will be _very_ surprised. You've turned down… how many offers, over the years?" Trinity asked, choosing her words carefully.

"Too many to count. But Harry has the potential to be a good officer, and frankly, we could use the extra help. Six hour shifts around the clock have been running us ragged."

"We could always request a few more crew members. The Council would be happy to grant it." She frowned as he turned to look at her, eyebrow raised. "I'm not saying I _want_ to, I'm just trying to anticipate what they'll say." Trinity blinked as an insidious thought hit her. "Morpheus… you're not just doing this because he might be the One, are you?"

For a few seconds there was silence, just long enough for her to regret asking. "Do you really think me so obsessed, Trinity?"

She let her breath out in a sigh. "No. But… I wanted to make sure. For Harry's sake."

He nodded, accepting her argument, even as he chose not to respond to it. "You should get some rest."

"What about you?"

"I need to speak with Tank, first. Tomorrow we need to find a place to plug in."

Trinity stopped, eyes wide. She grabbed his arm, forcing the captain to stop. "Plug in, but… The Oracle. We're taking Harry to see her?!"

Morpheus simply looked at her, dark eyes serious. "You should get some rest, Trinity. Tomorrow will be a long day."

With that, he broke away from her limp grasp, and walked away.

* * *

A/N: And thus ends the six-hour typing marathon. /head thuds onto desk/ Wake me when the reviews start coming…

Kou: /sighs/ I suppose I really can't blame her. That _was_ a long time at the computer… Ah, well.

This was really mostly a filler chapter, though it _did_ introduce a couple of plot elements. And I actually managed to get Hoshi to write it in a decent amount of time, compared to the last one. /raises a hand in triumph/

* * *

Review Responses:

Our thanks to: **Anora****, LadyDeath1, Lutheyl, marauderluva-17, micah, Mithros,** **pandababie****, **and **Silver-Enchantress-Elf.**

**A**: /blinks/ How the hell do you keep doing that? Either you come up with something better than what I had planned, or you anticipate what I'm going to do. I might as well ask you to help me write the bloody thing.

That isn't actually the worst of ideas, considering how little you really know about the Matrix.

True… Is there any way I can ask you questions? I have the first movie practically memorized, but the second and third make things so much more complicated…

Ah, well. On to the actual review response:

How will Harry fit in… I won't lie, that'll be interesting (for me to write, at least). I have a few things planned out, but I can guarantee they'll be different. I _will_ say you've got the basic attitude pinned down with that second scene you wrote.

/grins/ You know, you're the first to twig to how hard it was for Tank to find him, and what it means. I _am_ planning on using Snape, even if this chapter's probably the last time he'll be in the prequel.

And don't worry, the angst is pretty much over. It's just that it had to be in there at _some_ point, and I wanted to get it mostly over with early on. The next few chapters are going to be more plot-related.

**curlytop**: LoL. Sorry, I just don't really trust people's minds to stay out of the gutter. I figure, if _I_ can infer something, someone else can too.

Alright, the wizarding world exists within the Matrix, but magic _is_ real. I'm not saying more than that.

**EvilExpressions**: Yeah, the Hogwarts crew'll be there, eventually.

**holydak1**: Harry'll stay in both, actually. And there won't be so much of an emphasis on combat training, since he's just a kid.

**incybincer**: The reason they don't know yet I hinted at in the second chapter: wizards are _very_ difficult to get a trace on.

**Kenny7**: Lol! Sorry 'bout that, but I'm glad you really want me to update.

**Marshmallow Orc**: Yeah, Harry will be going to Hogwarts, but it's going to be as AU as I can make it.

**Mr**** Blader X**: /laughs/ That's the first time I've heard anyone describe one of my stories _that_ way! LOL.

And they will find out, eventually.

**Neo Anderson**: Lol. Don't worry, I didn't need the phrase until next chapter, so your timing was perfect.

**NeovsSmith1**: That would be interesting, but it probably won't happen for a while.

**ShizukaSelphie**: Yeah, the whole mother bit actually surprised me at first, but then I realized how much it _worked_. So I'm glad you liked it, too.

**Stahchild**: Thx! That's one of my favorite compliments to get!

* * *

Thanks, everyone. It's this kind of encouragement that keeps me posting, instead of just writing for myself. Until my friend showed me this website, I had a really big self-confidence issue, and you guys are _really_ helping out with that.

See? It's like what everyone's been telling you for years. People aren't so scary after all.

/blinks/ Um, Kou? Most of the people here _are_ scary.

…Oh.

* * *

11 July 2004


	8. Imaginary

_Summary, Warnings, and Disclaimer_: Lessee, nothing really new, but I'd like to dedicate this chapter to **stanley**** T** and **Andrew Joshua Talon**, for helping me with this and for giving me the inspiration to break through my writer's block, respectively.

* * *

_…fall on real life_

_is__ anybody left there sane?_

_if__ we slide on over and accept fate_

_then__ it's bound to be a powerful thing_

__

_if__ it's just that you're weak_

_can__ we talk about it_

_it's__ getting so damn creepy_

_just__ nursing this ghost of a chance_

_the__ fiction, the romance_

_and__ the Technicolour dreams_

_of__ black and white people…_

__

_-Matchbox-20, "Black and White People"_

* * *

__

Harry yawned, covering his mouth with one hand as he watched Tank mess with the computers. He offered Trinity a sleepy smile as she walked into the jack room.

"Hey, kiddo," she said, ruffling his hair. "Sleep okay?"

"Great!" he answered enthusiastically, before being forced to hide another yawn.

Trinity grinned. "Great, huh? Then what's with the jaw-cracker?"

The boy shrugged, curling up further into the chair. "This thing's surprisingly comfortable, once you get used to it."

"Well, it would have to be." She sat down on the edge of the seat, nudging him over a bit. "Think about it. To do our jobs, we have to stay in these things for hours, sometimes. Without being semi-crippled when we wake up."

Harry nodded thoughtfully, and was silent for a few moments. "Trinity?" he finally asked, "why did Tank come wake me up?"

She sighed, wondering how to say it, and decided to just do it. "We're going back to the Matrix."

The child's eyes widened in alarm. "_Back_? But-"

"Not back to your uncle's house," she interjected hastily. "You're _never_ going back there again. In fact, we won't even be in the same country." Trinity smiled as the alarm was replaced completely with curiosity. "Do you know where New York is?" she asked.

Screwing up his face in concentration, Harry thought back to musty primary-school geography lessons. "Is it in America?" he said uncertainly.

The woman nodded. "Right! New York is where most of our missions take place. Our coming here was… unusual, to say the least. The only other times we've come to England, we were somewhere in London itself."

"Missions?" Harry asked, cocking his head to one side, and mentally Trinity cursed. This was _not_ how she'd planned to bring this up.

"The Machines," she said at last, looking away. "We're at war. We're losing, but we still fight them all we can. Going into the Matrix is a very large part of that." _Even if some of those idiots in Zion can't see that. Where the hell _else_ are we supposed to get the bodies to run their precious gunships?_

"Oh." The quiet sound brought her head back up, and she saw Harry watching her calmly through emerald eyes. "So, where are we going?" he asked, and Trinity breathed a quiet sigh of relief at the change in subject.

"We're going to see a very wise woman," she said with a smile. "We all go to see her, after we're freed."

"Really? Why?"

"Other than the fact that it's tradition, you mean?" Trinity asked, the smile turning a bit wry. "She… gives good advice. And a direction to go in." Seeing the boy's puzzlement, she reached over and ruffled his unruly hair. "You'll understand when you meet her."

"If you say so…" he said doubtfully, and she laughed.

It was another ten minutes of yawning before Tank announced he was ready, during the course of which both Morpheus and Neo found their way to the jack room. "Hey," Neo said softly, walking over to where they sat.

"Good morning," Harry offered with a genuine smile. "Are you coming with us?"

The man nodded. "Yeah. Poor Morpheus has to stay behind and watch the ship with Tank, though."

Trinity looked at her husband in surprise. She knew he had no fondness for the Oracle. It wasn't that he personally disliked her, it was just…

Well, she _was_ the one who had told him his life had been ruined for nothing.

"Well, are you three ready to go?" Tank asked cheerfully, leaning back against an empty seat.

Trinity and Neo nodded pretty much in unison, with an understandably reluctant Harry only a second behind them.

"Right, then!" The Hispanic man clapped his hands together cheerfully, beaming. "Let's get you rolling." He held a hand out to Harry, and after a moment of struggling with old instincts, the boy took it trustingly.

For a few minutes, even after the three had been plugged into the Matrix, Morpheus stood in the jack room watching their slumbering forms. Finally, he turned and left the room to take up his post in the cockpit, leaving Tank to look after their impromptu family.

* * *

Trinity peeked through the gauzy curtains at the street several stories below, careful not to let the movement be seen. "All clear," the woman called quietly a moment later. Relieved, she turned back to Harry and her husband, and had to suppress a wince as she again caught sight of the clothes that reflected Harry's self-image. He was sitting on the couch of the apartment they'd appeared in, looking very young in the monotonous gray of his baggy clothing.

Were she the kind to weep, she would, for all that the world had done to him and to them all. But she had never, would never let herself be that vulnerable, and so all Trinity could do to heal his wounds was to love him.

And occasionally, get a little… physical with anyone who tried to hurt the child. Trinity was hard pressed to hold back a fierce grin as she walked over to Harry, an imagined, remembered _crack_ filling her ears.

Smiling, she grasped one of his hands and pulled him to his feet. "C'mon, kiddo. It's nice to be lazy sometimes, but time's a-wasting!" _Not to mention we can't count on our hosts staying conveniently absent forever_, she added mentally, with a look around at the small, but well-furnished apartment.

Neo quietly ushered them out the door, locking the handle before he pulled it shut to keep out anyone who might decide to take advantage of the apartment's temporary defenselessness. Together, the threesome walked down the vacant hallway.

"First rule of surviving in the Matrix," her husband said as they stopped by a heavy metal door. "_Always_ use the stairs, if you can. Elevators are too easily interfered with. A convenient power outage would leave you nicely trapped for the next Agent to come along."

Harry's thin shoulders shuddered a little as he undoubtedly remembered the cold face of the Agent that had set all this in motion. He nodded quickly.

A few minutes and six flights of stairs later, they were stepping out into the ever-bustling streets of New York City. Trinity took a firm hold of Harry's hand to keep from losing him to the crowd, and she chuckled as the young boy gaped at the gleaming sky-scrapers that towered over their heads. As they set off down the pavement, she couldn't keep a tuneful little ditty from running through her mind.

_And we're off to see the Wizard, the wonderful Wizard of OZ…_

* * *

The Oracle hummed quietly to herself as she bent to check the chocolate-chip cookies in the oven. They weren't quite that wonderful golden-brown that she preferred yet, but that was all right. There was still some time left before Morpheus arrived with his newest protégé.

The new ones always appreciated her cookies so much…

She carefully shut the oven door, again feeling a twinge of curiosity over the captain's new charge. The ones he chose nearly always turned out to be the best, and she almost hadn't expected him to free another human after that disaster with Cipher last year. The child must be something truly special, then…

For a moment, a whim hovered at the back of her mind, but she dismissed it. This era's Champion hadn't even been born yet. The next Remaking wasn't scheduled to occur for another twenty years at _least_. Which was a good thing, since the last version hadn't had anything _nearly_ as fun as baking in a nice quiet kitchen to keep her occupied.

Or candy. And she _so_ loved candy…

Still, she couldn't wait to meet the boy. Her subordinate spy programs hadn't been able to tell her much beyond the fact that his parents were dead and his uncle murdered with no suspects. Reportedly, though, there had been Agent activity in the area that night, so she had her suspicions.

Her graying head came up as one of her sentry codes sent data about its first sighting of her visitors, and she blinked in surprise to find that there was no sign of the imposing captain with the little group. Instead, it was the lovely Trinity, and that nice boy, Neo, with the small child, and the Oracle instantly dismissed all thoughts of the boy being the One. If there were even the slightest possibility that he was the One, Morpheus would never have let him out of his sight.

Which made the child merely interesting, not important.

With a quick command, she turned the spy's attention to the young boy. He wasn't much to look at on the first glance. His self-image was distinctly… drab. An overly-large gray T-shirt hung from too-thin shoulders over faded jeans, and sneakers that looked as though they had seen their last days completed the ensemble.

Frowning slightly, she focused in on his face, and discovered just why his self-confidence was so low. His green eyes were old, easily as old as those of the freedom fighters to either side of him, and the last vestiges of a bruise decorated his cheek. She called up the file that held what little information she had on the boy, and added a short statement: _Possible child abuse; investigate further._ Satisfied, she exited out again, though not without the usual twitch of amusement at the coincidence of his name.

* * *

"Here we are," Trinity said quietly as they came to a stop in front of an inconspicuous door. "Are you rea-…" She shut her mouth on the far too frequently asked question, and Harry sent her a look of amusement. "Never mind."

"Let's just get this over with," Harry said with a shiver. This apartment complex, unlike the other one, hovered somewhere between dingy, dirty, and disturbingly neglected, which would make anyone raised with Aunt Petunia's exacting standards nervous. He half expected to feel her heavy hand as she ordered him to get back to work.

And that feeling of being watched that made the place between his shoulder blades itch really wasn't helping.

Eyes narrowed in determination, Harry reached for the doorknob, only to draw back as it turned before he touched it. The door creaked open, to reveal a rather pretty black woman on the other side. "Hello, Harry. We've been expecting you."

After a moment of pure surprise, he nodded and stepped through the door the woman held open invitingly. Inside was a perfectly normal waiting room, the kind you would find in any doctor's office, complete with a few people sitting in the seats and reading magazines. The boy hung back, close to the doorway, as he tried to figure out what the hell it was doing in a residential building. Did that many people really want to see one lady?

Then there was a gentle hand at the small of his back, and he looked behind him to see the same woman from the door smiling at him. Trinity and Neo were nowhere in sight. "Where-?"

"Your guardians will wait for you outside," she replied, still smiling. "Don't worry, hun, this won't take long. Just wait out here while I go see if the Oracle is ready." She turned and vanished through a door on the other side of the room.

Hesitant, unsure of what to do, Harry looked around the waiting room again. There were three adults present, all of middle age, and two children. One, an apparently hyper-active little girl who couldn't have been more than four, sat next to her mother, chattering nonstop of nothing. The other, the boy couldn't help but take a closer look at.

He was close to Harry's own age, perhaps a year or two younger. That in itself wasn't unusual, but the facts that his head was completely shaven and he was dressed in white robes were. He sat cross-legged on the floor, studying something in his hands.

Curious but a bit wary, since Dudley had chased away anyone who might have wanted to make friends with his cousin for as long as he could remember, Harry sat down a few feet from the boy. "What are you doing?" he asked quietly.

Startled, the boy looked up, revealing calm brown eyes. Silently, he held out the object, which turned out to be a simple silver spoon. Harry stared at him in confusion, and he smiled. "Watch," he murmured, and as the green-eyed boy obeyed, the spoon seemed to… ripple, to sway, and twist, and finally bend…

Then Harry blinked, and there was nothing more in the boys hand then a normal, utterly straight spoon. For another few seconds he stared at it, and then slowly grinned. "Wicked…"

He wasn't alone, wasn't a freak after all. There was someone else who could do these… things.

"I'm Harry," he offered tentatively. The boy studied him for a moment, then smiled back, a clear, bright smile.

"Clarence…" He glanced towards the doorway leading further into the apartment. "You'd best go. She's ready to see you now."

With a final, slightly nervous grin to his new friend, Harry stood.

* * *

(1) Clarence means clear, luminous, in Latin. /shrugs/ What? I thought it was appropriate…

* * *

A/N: /collapses/ Oh, thank God… I am _so_, so sorry. Everything just conspired to keep my from this story, school, my dad's computer getting overhauled (which _still_ isn't finished, and cuts my writing time in half), boyfriend, and good, old-fashioned writer's block… /sighs/ You get the picture, I hope.

And I _really_ meant to put all of the Oracle stuff in this chapter, but the chapter was getting long and I figured you'd prefer this now instead of next week. It'll be in the next one, I swear!

* * *

_Review Responses:_

(I'm only going to reply to a few of these, to insure that I actually get this out before midnight, which is when it would be if I answered every single one (40! That's the most I've ever gotten for a single chapter!))

_Our thanks to_: **angelkitty77**, **aurora**, **borne-shadow-childe**, **Burning DragonSword**, **colon**, **Drakhar**, **Gohan00**, **James**, **john1234**, **KawaiiWhiteWolf**, **kitkat**, **Kitsune-chan**, **marshmallow-orc**, **Maxennce**, **Mithros**, **Mr**** Blader X**, **Noompjuh**, **Queen of the Elven City**, **raudvx5**, **she-who-loves-to-read**, **ShizukaSelphie**, **Silverpaws69**, and **spectra2**.

**Andrew Joshua Talon**: /bows/ Thank you, so very much. Your review was just what I needed to get through that damn block of mine, not to mention being one of the best compliments I've received on this story. A _real_ confidence booster.

**bellashade**: /laughs/ And your prayers are answered… Thanks, by the way. I wasn't even sure anyone would see that, let alone pray for me.

**Bukama**: I started to read that about three months before I started this, and couldn't get through it. I've found a couple others since, but it was pretty much the same deal with them.

And as for pairings… /sweatdrops/ I don't have a bloody clue yet.

**curlytop**: /laughs/ You're very close…

**Karasu**** Sage**: /blinks/ Wow… /blushes/

**Lady Foxfire**: /sighs/ Does third year count? Truthfully, I wrestled with that temptation for months while planning this, but it just doesn't work out if he doesn't 'escape' then.

**Molly Morrison**: I added the "Prelude" the same day I posted the last chapter. I decided to make everything from before Hogwarts its own story, and then each year after that as a new one as well.

**Neo Anderson**: Really? Thanks!

**Serpent of Light**: /grins/ 'Bout bloody time… So, which is your favorite? Or least favorite, if you can decide which is the best. /grimaces/ My least fave is the second one, to tell you the truth.

And those are the right questions to be asking.

**Sierra-Falls**: /shakes head/ No, not hiatus. Just a severe case of RL and writer's block. If I ever decide to stop a story (unlikely, for a story I've put this much work into), I'll put it in the summary.

**stanley**** T**: /frowns/ You do realize you have nothing to be ashamed of, right? I read a couple of your stories, and while I'll admit you could work on grammar a bit, they're still a far cry above many of the stories on this misbegotten website. And as long as an idea is good, it shouldn't matter who it comes from…

/shakes head/ Anyway… /looks curious/ How does anger disprove he's a program? Anger is simply a word, after all, like love…

Hmm… exorcism… it's thought, and would probably help in… /shuts mouth/ No, no more giving out spoilers, you idiot, you know better than that… Erm, I'm talking to myself again, aren't I…?

Oh, definitely the teenage boy factor. How the bloody hell could she _move_?!

**That Kid Crying In The Corner**: /shakes head/ That assumes that a wizard has been unplugged before. You have to realize, most of those unplugged are hackers, and wizards rarely, if ever, interact with computers.

**Wren Truesong**: /smiles secretively/ You have no idea how close you are…

And I thank you. /bows/

* * *

I apologize for not writing more in the responses. I wanted to, it's just that I suspect I'll be lynched if I don't get this out now. Anyway, R&R!

* * *

**20 October 2004**


	9. Wild Child

**Summary, Warnings, and Disclaimer**: Um, don't own the poem, don't own the characters… don't own anything but the ideas, in fact. Except for those ideas which were suggested by my wonderful reviewers, of course.

* * *

_For I have known them all already, known them all—_

_Have known the evenings, mornings, afternoons,_

_I have measured out my life with coffee spoons;_

_I know the voices dying with a dying fall_

_Beneath the music from a farther room._

_So how should I presume?_

**_-T.S. Eliot, "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock"_**

* * *

    She heard the door open behind her, heard it _click_ shut, and heard the quiet, hesitant footsteps as the boy ventured further into the room, but she refused to look up just yet. Looking up would break her concentration, and she almost _had_ it…

    Then the timer chimed, and she smiled. "Ah, perfect timing. Would you mind getting the cookies out of the oven, dear? There's a mitt by the sink, there."

    Soft sounds rang in the kitchen, indicating that the boy was obeying, and she turned her attention back to her work. Now, where was she? Ah, yes… _Leader of Roman slave revolt_, nine letters…

    "Excuse me, ma'am?" Startled by the quiet, accented voice, the Oracle finally looked up into the stunning emerald eyes of her guest. Then she saw how the tiny child was wavering under the weight of the tray, and quickly rose from her chair. She grabbed a towel from the counter to protect her hands from the heat of the tray and took it from him, setting it down on top of the stove to cool down.

    "There we go." Sending a grandmotherly smile towards the small boy, she resumed her place at the simple kitchen table. "Thank you, Harry."

    The child went perfectly still, for a moment looking so much like a startled rabbit that the ancient program felt a pang of guilt for being the hunter. "H-how did you…?"

    "I'm the Oracle, dearie. It's my job to know these things." She chuckled dryly, and gestured for him to take a seat. "It's all right, I'm not going to bite. Not like those horrible relatives of yours," she added on a whim, and was rewarded as he sat down with a stunned _thump_ in the indicated chair. "Speaking of which, thank Trinity for me on her handling of the… situation, would you, dear? We really ought to be doing things like that more often."

    A minute smile flashed across his face, and Harry began to relax. "Yes, ma'am, I will."

    The Oracle nodded. "Good. Now," she fixed him with an intent stare, "how are you? It's never easy, having your entire world pulled out from under you."

    Harry looked down towards the table, his almost impossibly messy black hair falling forward to hide his eyes. "I'm alright…" he said quietly, idly tracing a design on the table with the tip of one finger.

    "I see…" The Oracle nodded again, though this time more to herself. "And how do you like living on the _Nebuchadnezzar_?"

_    That_ got a smile out of him as the boy glanced up at her shyly. "I love it," he said truthfully. "Everyone's really nice, and Neo and Tank showed me how to fly in the simulator."

    "Was it fun?"

    Harry nodded enthusiastically, and she grinned. "You might want to ask Morpheus about being a pilot when you grow up, then."

    "Do you really think so?" he asked her hopefully.

    "If it's something you truly love to do, you shouldn't let anyone stop you." The Oracle smiled again as she saw the boy commit her words to heart.

    There was a moment of silence, before he suddenly gave her a thoughtful look. "Is this why everyone comes to you? To get advice like that?"

    The rogue program laughed. "Mostly, yes. Never mind that they wouldn't _need_ my advice if they would simply stop and consider their problems themselves." She found herself genuinely liking the boy, as much for his perceptiveness as for the besieged innocence he revealed as he giggled at the put-upon tone of her words.

    "Well, let's take a look at you," she said as the giggles (which, maybe, she might have taken part in herself) began to fade, and rose from the table. A bit startled, Harry followed her, coming to a stop just in front of the old-seeming woman.

    "All right, open wide and say 'ah'," she ordered, taking his face gently in her hands. The Oracle took a moment to look at his tonsils as he obeyed, then swiveled his head from side to side to glance behind his ears. Good, no dirt… it was so rare nowadays to find a child who didn't mind a little cleanliness.

    Finally, she turned the boy's face back to the front and gazed into his eyes. There was some confusion there, and she could tell she was making him uncomfortable, but beneath that… plenty of intelligence, courage, and the last vestiges of a fading loneliness.

    Satisfied, the Oracle was about to let him go when she saw something odd in the very edges of her peripheral vision. Her breath caught as she reached up with one hand to brush aside the bangs covering his forehead. There, hiding beneath the midnight strands, was a scar.

    "Good Lord," she breathed, tracing its distinctive, lightning-bolt shape with her fingers. _The name_ wasn't_ a coincidence…_she thought wildly.

    "Ma'am? Are you alright?" Harry Potter asked, concerned by the way she had suddenly frozen, her hands still keeping his head in one spot.

    The Oracle shook herself out of her scar-induced stupor and let him go. "Y-yes, child, I'm fine." Carefully, she turned and sat back down at the table. "Tell me, Harry, do you see that plaque above the door?"

    The boy glanced up at it and nodded.

    "It says _Temet Nosce_," she continued. "It's Latin, and it means 'know thyself.' I keep it up there to remind me that nothing in life means more than knowing your own self, because if you don't, then everything you do is based on a bunch of lies and half-truths."

    Harry turned his gaze back towards the old woman as she sighed wearily, still staring at the plaque. "Like the Matrix?"

    She laughed shortly. "Yes, like the Matrix…" Abruptly she rose again, and strode over to him. Taking the boy by his shoulders, she bent down until their eyes were level. "Harry, I want you to promise me something, alright? Promise me you'll always be yourself."

    By this point _very_ confused, Harry nonetheless nodded. "I promise."

    The Oracle gave him an authentic smile. "Thank you, my child. Thank you very much." Relieved, she backed off a bit, just in time to hear a knock at the door. "It must be time for you to go." Taking his hand, the program led him to the door.

    Her assistant waited on the other side to escort the boy back to his guardians, but before the Oracle let her take him, she turned to him one last time. "Remember, Harry. When you know who you _really_ are, you can do _anything_. Remember. Oh, and take a cookie with you," she said, handing him one. The green-eyed boy accepted it with a solemn nod and smile, and then he was gone.

    She waited a full minute afterwards to make sure they were really gone before she sent out a call for the most loyal of her own programs. A draft from behind and the soft sound of a closing door announced his arrival, and she smiled.

    "Yes, Oracle?"

    "A young boy just left here. You are to protect him as you would me," she ordered.

    "Yes, Oracle," the short Asian man said, after the smallest of pauses. "…Who is he?" he asked, curious as to just who his mistress would consider as important as she was.

    The Oracle grinned fiercely, the way a tigress grins, full of confidence, superiority, and most of all, sharp teeth. "He's someone who's _really_ gonna give that monochromatic bastard of an architect a headache."

    Seraph nodded with a slight smile. "I like him already," he commented in an accented voice.

    "Good. Make sure he and his family leave the Matrix safely. I don't want those damn Agents screwing this up."

    The sudden absence of any presence behind her was her only answer. Still grinning, the Oracle turned towards the unfinished crossword puzzle on the table and filled in the answer to the question she'd been working on: _Spartacus_.

* * *

    He liked the Oracle, he really did, but all the same Harry was delighted to be back with Neo and Trinity. They walked on either side of him as they strolled down the busy sidewalk, each keeping hold of one of his hands and at the same time keeping an eye on their surroundings.

    Abruptly the boy stiffened, as he felt the same slimy presence he'd felt the day he met Trinity. At first it was a distance away, but then in the blink of an eye, before he could open his mouth to warn his family, it was practically on top of them, and he _knew_ it was watching them.

    "Trinity!" he cried, tightening his grip on her hand. "It's an Agent!"

    "Wha-" she started to say, surprised, when Neo pulled both of them off to the side and into an alley.

    "He's right," the man said shortly. "There was an Agent right across the street from us."

    "…Shit." Trinity pulled her cell phone from her pocket and hit the button that would connect her directly with Tank in the real world. "Tank, we need an exit, _now_." She listened for a couple moments, then nodded and hung up. "Alright," she said, gesturing towards a building that flanked the alley. "We've got a tapped payphone in the lobby of that office building."

    "There isn't going to be time," Harry said quietly. "It's following us. It's almost across the street."

    Frowning, Trinity turned back towards the entrance of the alley just in time to see the Agent step into sight. Then she was being propelled towards a door, along with Harry. "Go," her husband said urgently. "Get Harry out of here. I'll hold him off."

    Helplessly she nodded, and kicked in the door. Pulling the boy along with her, she ran inside as Neo walked towards the Agent.

    "Well?" he called out mockingly. "Do I have to stand here all day?"

    There was no change of expression on the Agent's face, but the program obligingly ran forward. Neo dropped down and tried to sweep its legs out from under it, but failed as it simply jumped over the offending limb.

    The move _did_ succeed in preventing the Agent from attacking him right away, though, and the freedom fighter took the opportunity to kick out with his other leg and knock it forward as the kick connected with its back. The Agent rebounded from the alley wall even as Neo rose, its formal suit and tie no longer pristine.

    The program took a step towards him, obviously intending to attack, and Neo prepared himself. Then it abruptly stopped, staring at something behind him.

    A hand fell on the man's shoulder, and he whirled around to see a small Asian man standing behind him. "Go with your family," he said quietly with a smile. "I'll take care of this."

    Stunned, Neo could only nod as the stranger moved slowly towards the Agent, and turned to follow his wife and adopted son.

    Inside, the building, Harry smiled as he felt a bright, shining presence join those of his guardian and the foul morass that was the Agent. Knowing that everything would be all right now, he put the receiver to his ear, and vanished.

* * *

A/N: Alright, short chapter but an important one. Hopefully the part with the Oracle is alright… /sighs/ Sorry, it's just that the entire time I was writing this (nine hours! Woot!), I was _really_ trying to work on _Strains of Melody_, and I'm just a little disappointed that I didn't get anything done on that…

/shakes herself out of it/ No matter. The important thing is that I actually have something to post, and keep all you readers out there from stringing me up.

* * *

**Review Responses**:

_Our most grateful thanks to_: **Akua**, **angelkitty77**, **blubb-blubb**, **Caelestis**, **Dimidium Vocis**, **Drusilla**, **E.A.V.**, **Fleetfoot**, **Firehedgehog**, **gaul1**, **insanechildfanfic**, **Kazumi Uzumaki**, **Lady Foxfire**, **Maxennce**, **Molly Morrison**, **Morrigan**, **nogoalielikeme**, **Queen of the Elven City**, **Saetan**, **Sarah R Potter**, **Shelob**, **Sk8terWitch**, **Szihuoko**, **TimGold**, **Wickedmoemoe**

**Andrew Joshua Talon**: /beams/

Alright, the events in the first movie only happened up until the Oracle. Then, Cipher _did_ escape the crew, Morpheus was captured, Neo and Trinity went after him with the really cool attack helicopter… but afterwards, they all made it out before the payphone was destroyed.

And… /bows/ I give you Seraph. I could never leave him out, he's one of my favorite characters. So we'll be seeing more of him.

**bellashade**: You're forgetting, the Oracle isn't a true part of the Matrix- she's kinda in rebellion against it. So the only data she'd have is the stuff she can gather herself or steal.

**borne-shadow-child­**: I'll agree with you on the matter of SG-1 x-overs… I want more Danny!

**Cyn Wraith**: /grins/ Trust me, no one could have been more skeptical about this story before I began it than I was. I really wasn't expecting it to work out this well.

**knot2be**: /smirks/ You better believe it…

**Lyra**: Actually, one of the first things they're supposed to teach you in Spanish is that in that language- in most languages, in fact, the adjective comes _after_ the word it describes, unlike in English. Therefore, sueños buenos is in the right order. /snorts/ And thus, you see one of the few things I actually recall from three years of Spanish classes…

**Mithros**: /grins/ Not quite… it's even more complicated than that! Muahaha!

**murdock**: /blushes/ …

**Nytingale**: Um, you're close on the Clarence issue… As for the people in the waiting room, no one really knows.

**Sierra-Falls**: /smirks/ Maybe I didn't leave her bewildered, but I believe I managed to shock her a bit…

**stanley T**: /cocks head to the side/ _Real_-ly… I'll just have to see if I can surprise you, then…

Thank you _very_ much for the tips on the fighting. I've only written two _very_ short action scenes in my life, counting the rather pathetic one in this chapter, so they're greatly appreciated.

My not mentioning the scar until this chapter was intentional. The Oracle is the first person we've met in this story who knows how important it is. Harry still believes it is simply a scar, and the crew have enough scars of their own that I don't believe they would question it. After all, scars come in all shapes and sizes- for instance, I have scars on my wrist that look like I tried to cut it, but in reality came from my oh-so-loving feline companion, and then there's always Dumbledore's famous 'map of the London Underground'. Scars are _always_ unusual, no matter their shape or story, and I believe the crew of the _Nebuchadnezzar_ would understand that better than most, which is why they haven't paid much attention to it.

Oh, and I'm afraid I have to admit to seeing a couple episodes of DBZ… /shrugs/ It was on a couple times when I went over to a friend's house.

**Takeda Lee**: Thanks for telling me that. The problem is, they also shot most of the city scenes in Sydney. I've asked around, and most of the people I've talked to say their general impression is that it's a city like New York.

**TanAlike**: This _will_ be a multiple-story series. This is the prelude, or basically everything that happens before when the first book begins. Each year after the prelude will be its own story. /shrugs/ I'm afraid I haven't really thought much about titles yet, though.

**Wren Truesong**: /is laughing too hard to answer the review properly/

* * *

/sighs/ I'm trying to be as selective as I can when answering reviewers, and there's _still_ too many… /shakes head/ Anyway, I apologize again for the short chapter, but I hope you enjoy it!

* * *

**15 November 2004**


	10. A Place For My Head

**Summary, Warnings, and Disclaimer**: Nothing new, really… As stated in the author's note, all Matrix character pasts are completely fabricated…

* * *

_If you're gone, maybe it's time to come home_

_There's an awful lot of breathing room_

_but__ I can hardly move_

_If you're gone, baby you need to come home_

_There's a little bit of something me_

_in__ everything in you..  
_

**_-Matchbox-20, "If You're Gone"

* * *

_**

"And you say this man fought the Agent to let you escape?" Morpheus asked again, disbelief clear in his voice and face.

Neo nodded wearily, leaning back against the sheet-metal wall. He didn't quite believe it himself, either. "Yeah." He pinched the bridge of his nose between two fingers. "He tapped me on the shoulder, and told me to follow Harry and Trin. Said he'd 'take care of' the Agent. Though I never saw them actually fight…"

"A program, perhaps…" the older man said hesitantly. "Though why would one aid us?"

All Neo could do was shrug, and Morpheus propped his head on one hand, elbow planted on the arm of the pilot's chair. He stared pensively out at the rubble that half-filled the enormous sewers. "Well," he ventured after a moment, "at least we can never say our lives are boring."

The other man snorted ironically, thrusting himself away from the chill wall. "'Interesting times' indeed." He started to leave, then paused in the entryway as a laugh forced its way out of his mouth.

"What is so amusing?" the hovership captain asked curiously, swiveling his chair around to keep his shipmate in sight.

Neo grinned. "When I was a kid, my… my mother was utterly terrified of spiders," he reminisced fondly, though not without a hint of bitterness at the reminder they were still stuck inside the Matrix and would likely never leave. "Whenever she saw one, she'd scream for my dad to come kill it. That guy in the Matrix, the way he said he'd 'take care of' the Agent… it was _exactly_ the same way Dad would reassure Mom he'd 'take care of' the spider, just before he'd crush it."

One corner of Morpheus's mouth twitched up in a half-smirk. "A pleasant image," he commented wryly.

"Isn't it just?" They both laughed, and Morpheus turned back to his controls and activated the ship's engines as Neo left to find his wife and child.

* * *

_:Two days later:

* * *

_

Trinity sat with her chin cradled in her hands as she watched Tank put Harry through the one elementary school-level simulation the _Nebuchadnezzar_ carried in her databanks.

"You don't have to watch, you know," the operator said quietly, giving her a knowing look. He patted the computer console. "There's nothing in her that can hurt him. And it's not like he's going to ditch."

She laughed, glancing over at Harry's unconscious form in his now-customary jack chair, then back at the screen, where she could just make out his form through the graininess, bent intently over the desk. "I _know_. I thought for sure we'd have to force him into it, and he just…"

"Jumped at the chance," he finished with a nod. "Strange little tyke, that's for sure. I think the only person who hated school more than I did was-" he faltered momentarily at saying the name, "-was Dozer."

Trinity nodded silently, staring down at the floor. Dozer- and all the rest of their lost friends- was still a sore subject, even a year after Cipher's betrayal had caused his, and their, deaths. With a wordless sigh, she searched for something to say that would divert them from that painful area…

…And realized all she could think of was another painful one. As far as she could figure out, the reason Harry liked going to school was probably because it offered him some protection from his family. Any obvious or severe injuries would be noticed. She said as much aloud to Tank, bitterly, and jumped as arms wrapped their way around her waist.

"Or it could simply be that he likes school," her husband said quietly, his breath tickling her ear. "Don't sell him short by expecting the worst. He's a bright kid."

Flushing slightly, she nodded, putting a hand over his.

"Aren't you supposed to be sleeping?" Neo asked her, tightening his grip a little.

Trinity grimaced. "I know, but…" She shot another glance at the monitor. "It feels like we're running out of time."

Neo sighed. "That's because we are." He looked at Tank. "Morpheus sent me to tell you to bring him out," he said, nodding towards Harry. "Our patrol's over." Trinity felt a thrill of dread run through her.

"We're going back to Zion."

* * *

One times twelve was twelve, and ten times twelve was a hundred and twenty… add the two together, and you got… 

With a triumphant smile and a vast feeling of satisfaction, Harry circled his answer on the worksheet. Twelve times eleven was a hundred and thirty-two.

It was absolutely bloody wonderful not to have to pretend to be a moron or the laziest boy in school to boost Dudley's (who was both) fragile ego. His family had hated it when their 'nasty little burden' was better at something than that mindless brute, and he'd learned accordingly, often purposefully getting problems wrong and 'accidentally' losing track of his homework. Harry had lost track of the many times his teacher had pulled him aside for a little chat about 'living up to his potential.'

Never mind that 'living up to his potential' while living in his uncle's house would have gotten him nothing but an early grave.

Resolutely he turned his attention to the next problem. All that was behind him now. Vernon was dead, Trinity would never let anything like that happen to him again…

And he was beginning to believe in himself enough that _he_ wouldn't let anything like that happen again. There was _no_ way he was going back, now that he'd seen how the other children lived, loved and wanted.

Lost in his thoughts, the nine-year-old nevertheless finished the next few problems without incident or true difficulty, and then the worksheet itself. With a sigh, he dropped his pencil on his desk and leaned back in his kiddy-sized chair to stretch and look around.

Of course, this quickly grew tedious, since the other students- well, programs- were fairly generic. The teacher wasn't much better, as 'she' was the general stereo-type of elementary teachers everywhere, with dark brown hair pulled into a bun at the back of her neck and the kind of face that was vaguely pretty but that you forgot the instant it left your sight.

At least, Harry _thought_ she was boring… up until the point when he looked away and saw her body shimmer from the corner of his eye.

He nearly gave himself whiplash, twisting his head back around to look at her again, but there was no evidence that anything unusual had happened. She still sat at her desk in the corner of the room, doing paperwork.

Experimentally, Harry slowly turned his eyes away again, and stopped the instant her form was replaced with a shimmering pale green light. This time he didn't move his head, trying to study her without looking at her directly.

At first the glimmering seemed chaotic, without any purpose he could comprehend, though somehow it seemed… familiar. Then he realized it was falling into a repeating pattern, and that the waves of light weren't solid, but made up of small things that he couldn't make out from this distance. He was just contemplating getting up and taking a closer look- she wouldn't mind, after all; from what Tank said the programs in this simulation weren't all that advanced- when abruptly the glimmering vanished from his sight, leaving only a normal-seeming teacher at a desk.

Surprised, the boy stared at her and tried turning his head again, but nothing happened. He frowned and returned to openly watching the woman, wondering what the hell was happening now. He really, _really_ hoped it didn't turn out like the last surprise had. Sure, he'd already come to love the _Nebuchadnezzar_, but he did _not_ need to go through another life-changing event again…

:**Harry?**:

He jumped as the voice rang from the classroom intercom, and after a second recognized it as Tank. "Er, yes?"

The man's voice sounded apologetic. :**Sorry, niño, but we've got to cut this session short. I'm bringing you out.**:

For the moment, all speculation over the program's mysterious light show was dispelled, as Harry tried to figure out why his school lessons were being cut short. They'd been one of the few things Trinity was adamant about, though admittedly, he hadn't argued much. "Okay…" he answered uncertainly, and almost immediately heard the faint buzzing and saw the flash of light behind his eyelids that heralded his return to the real world.

When he opened his true eyes, he found his foster mother's face hovering over him, with Neo's not too far behind. "Trinity…?" he murmured in worried confusion.

Seeing the anxiety in his face, she was quick to break out into a reassuring smile. "It's okay, kiddo. Morpheus just thought you should come up to the cockpit for a while."

Carefully he sat up, shaking the incipient cramps from his muscles. "What for?" he asked curiously.

"We'll be arriving in Zion within the hour," Neo answered. "And the captain thought you might like to watch while we came in."

Harry smiled uncertainly at that and jumped down off the chair. "Um, sure…"

* * *

It couldn't have been more than half an hour later that they were being challenged by Zion's automated and human-controlled defenses, and passed through them safely. Harry watched it all with a hint of wonder from the copilot's seat next to Morpheus. Neo stood behind them, while the last two members of the tiny crew stayed down below in case there was an emergency. 

And then at last they came to two enormous metal doors that sealed off the last human city from the armies of the machines. The dark-haired boy stared suspiciously at the gleaming multitude of large guns that surrounded the doors as they crept back into the rock, able to imagine all too clearly what might have happened to the ship had they answered even one of the challenges incorrectly.

With a final noisy _creak_ and shudder, the doors stopped moving, almost fully retracted into the stone walls, and the _Nebuchadnezzar_ floated past. As soon as the ship was clear, they began to slide shut again, and Harry turned his eyes forward, and gaped.

They were just entering a cavern the likes of which he'd never even heard of before. Its dimensions were incredible- the far side could barely be seen, and the ceiling rose even further away. In the cavern's center was a steel-and-glass citadel that gleamed brightly in the harsh electric lights that cast the miniature world into permanent near-day. Surrounding it were old-fashioned ship's docks… well, if docks had ever before stood half a mile off the ground, for that was how high they seemed to be.

Other ships were already at rest in their berths, and slowly the _Nebuchadnezzar_ drifted forward to join them. The various docks were crowded with people, and even more covered the bridges that led from the control tower into the city proper in a never-ending swirl of brown and gray.

A movement from their assigned dock attracted his attention, and the boy saw several technicians impatiently waiting to service their ship. Finally, with the sound of metal scraping over metal and a _thud_ that shook the hovership, they stopped.

Harry could almost hear the fond chuckle in Neo's voice as the man hugged him from behind, but he didn't turn, still too busy staring at the bustling city.

"Welcome home, kid…"

* * *

A/N: /scowls/ Damn it, this is _not_ what I'm supposed to be working on…! (/is very frustrated, in case you can't tell/) It's been _forever_ since I updated _SoM_, I know, I just couldn't resist finally getting Harry to Zion… Which I finally got tired of waiting for, so for the first time I decided to skip some events… 

Alright, there are some things I should have included earlier on in the story but forgot, so now I have to find explanations for why they weren't there. This chapter begins the explanation for one of them, kind of. Can anyone guess which little trouble spot I'm referring to?

And before anyone says anything, I know _nothing_ about the pasts of the Matrix characters. Anything I put in about them is purely fictional.

* * *

**_Review Responses

* * *

_**

_Our thanks to_: **Akua**, **Andais**, **angelkitty77**, **chibineo24**, **Cor-chan**, **Digi**** Bonds**, **Drusilla**, **E.A.V.** (ooh, can I join?), **Firehedgehog**, **gaul1**, **GMT**, **insanechildfanfic**, **Jade Dagger**, **jbcna**, **Kazumi Uzumaki**, **LadyDeath1**, **Larail**, **leontine-456**, **Lutheyl**, **Lyra**, **Me**, **murdock**, **nogoalielikeme**, **Psycho Chef**, **sid**** meiers**, **SilverStreakH**, **spacecatdet**, **ToushinisKing**, **Von**, and **Wickedmoemoe**.

* * *

**Andrew Joshua Talon**: Actually, that wasn't Smith, just a generic Agent. Harry and Smith won't meet until the next 'book'. 

No, no, Voldemort is doing exactly what he's supposed to be doing… And the Architect is the Architect, no one else. As for the rest… eventually, yes. Don't expect anything canon, though.

/beams/ Thank you! /looks concerned/ Oh, dear… now I'm going to be worried about people fainting from the excitement of a new chapter and hitting their heads on their computers…

**bellashade**: Perhaps that's what she's was supposed to do originally, but I can't see her not taking changing over the years and Matrices. Change _is_ what she's programmed to do/cause, after all.

**borne-shadow-childe**: You shouldn't be trying to get that out of your head, actually… And possibly.

**just**** wibble wobble wooble**: /eye twitches/ I have already stated, multiple times, that yes, _Harry will be going to Hogwarts!_

**korrd**: /blinks/ I've never considered Harry _not_ special…

With great difficulty… and Neo isn't the One, so there isn't one, unless Harry's it.

**Lady Foxfire**: Not until the first real 'book', and no.

**Mithros**: Yes, Seraph's from the third film. Which totally kicks ass, even if the plot isn't all that tight.

**Moonmage**: Yes, Sirius will be in the third 'book' of the series… well, I suppose fourth, if you count this _really_ long prologue as a book of its own.

**Shade Dancer**: /grins and chuckles/ You know perfectly well that all you have to do to find out stuff is ask me questions I don't have to answer in the next chapter. Hell, anyone could do that if they'd just realize it, by AIM or by email. Wonder why no one does?

/happily begins making signs for the 'We Love Seraph!' club/

**stanley**** T**: Hmm… food for thought. /grins/ S'pose it's a good thing I hadn't really planned for Harry to fight directly anyway… Not just because I'm planning on dear Trin being of the overprotective-mother sort, but because I can see Harry fitting into combat _support_ so much better…

And that fight seen wasn't bad… May I use something like it, in the very far future? (I figure Harry won't really _have_ to fight until he's thirteen or fourteen beyond the occasional little encounter, so that tells you just how far ahead I'm trying to think)

**Wren Truesong**: Wow… /beams/ You have just been promoted to one of my favorite reviews for _KT_… You see, for every story I have two or three absolute favorite reviewers, and up until now, the only one I had for this story was stanley T, and potentially Andrew Joshua Talon. So thank you!

/snickers/ You do the whole 'reread from start' thing too? Though admittedly, I only do it for the stories that are extremely short or that I really like… I _am_ glad someone caught that little sentence, though.

And that was quite the insight about Morpheus… I thought it would be a nice change for Harry (from other fics, at least) if other people _didn't_ want him to be the savior. Though I'm afraid that'll only last up until the next story…

/grins/ And again with the insights… Harry could never be even a normal hero. And as for the living... /bites lip/ Would you believe I don't know how that'll turn out yet? I haven't seen the end of this movie yet, so it'll surprise even me…

/nods/ I know what you mean… hell, I've been trying to do fanart for it for a while now, but nothing I try seems to come out right…

/grins as she reads more of the review/ Lessee… I was tempted to have her give him the entire pan, but they'd be a bit heavy for him, and if one of the adults carried it for him, that would interfere with the mini fight scene later.

/blushes/ Thank you… I didn't realize the end bit was anything special until reviews started coming in saying the readers really liked it… I just thought it was a convenient place to end the chapter.

And don't worry, Clarence will be back, though not until the next installment of the series.

_And in response to a couple reviews, yes, the Oracle knows _exactly_ who Harry Potter is.

* * *

_

/groans/ So much for cutting down on the number of review responses…

* * *

**16 December 2004**


	11. One Step Closer

_Warnings and Disclaimers:_ Again, I'm making up anything and everything to do with pasts and Zion itself. Tried to do research on the net, but apparently everyone's as clueless as I am.

* * *

Harry stared about him with wide eyes, trying to take in as much as he could as they strode down one of his new home's narrow, steel-walled corridors. It wasn't that it was particularly beautiful, or even impressive- in fact, what he had seen of the last human city so far was downright ugly.

Even the people were drab. Everyone wore the same kind of ragged, colorless clothing that he himself did, and there was no joy in their faces as they went about their business. What talking there was was quiet and to the point, but most of the men and women wandered silently through the stone and metal halls of Zion.

Ahead of him, Trinity used her magnetic personality- as well as a few well-placed elbows- to make a path through the crowd. Harry clung to her hand and was pulled along in her wake, as Neo walked along behind them.

By the time they reached wherever they were going, the boy's feet had begun to ache from their contact with the unforgivingly hard floor. The three walked into a high-ceilinged room, and Harry nearly flinched from the abrupt contrast of this chamber to the world outside. The walls were explosions of color, reds and yellows and oranges all vying for attention, with the occasional demure blue or green thrown in. Then there was the noise- that of over two dozen children forced into close proximity.

They were of all ages. The youngest Harry could see couldn't have been more than three, and there were two children, a boy and a girl who looked like twins, that were perhaps a year older than himself.

"Trinity, what-?" he asked, taking a step back.

The woman knelt and pulled him around to face her. "Harry, love, you need to stay here for a little bit. We are _not_ leaving you here," she said sternly as he paled. "We're going to adopt you, Neo and I, but we need to report first and then get all the paperwork done so you can come home with us."

Harry started to protest, until Neo's fingers brushed gently through his messy hair. He looked up to see the man smiling reassuringly down at him. "We'll be back, I swear it," he murmured to the tiny boy. Neo knelt down next to his wife so he could look Harry in the eye. "I've only known you for a few days, and already I can't imagine you not being there," he said truthfully. "You're ours now. We're not _letting_ you go."

Harry stared at him for a long moment, eyes wide and lips trembling. Then his lips firmed and he nodded. "How... how long?" he asked in an anxious whisper.

The two adults shared a glance. "Probably... until tomorrow," Trinity answered. "It depends on whether Morpheus has to pull out his hole card."

"Hole card?" the boy asked curiously.

She winced. "Well... I'm really not supposed to say anything yet, but... You liked flying in the simulator, right?" That got an enthusiastic nod, one that drew a chuckle from her husband. "How would you like to learn how to fly more stuff?"

The boy practically beamed. "Could I?" he asked earnestly.

Trinity smiled. "And to think, Morpheus was afraid he wouldn't accept," she murmured aside to Neo.

Neo blinked. "You mean...?" As far as he knew, Morpheus hadn't taken an apprentice in a hell of a long time.

She nodded. "Yep. And that way you can come with us on the _Neb_," she added, pulling Harry into a hug. Neo reached over and hugged them both.

After a long minute, they let go, and Harry smiled tremulously at them as the two adults rose to their feet. Trinity leaned down and gave him another brief hug, before walking over to snag the matron in charge of the orphanage's chaos.

"Ma'am?" she asked politely, standing a few feet away from the heavy-set woman berating a little seven-year-old that looked like he'd somehow found a dust pile to roll in.

"Yes, dear?" the gray-haired matron replied, after sending the child to the wash basin. "Can I help you?"

Trinity glanced over at her husband and their future child. The matron followed her gaze, and lit on the small boy. "Another darling for me?" she asked in a thick German accent.

"Only for a day or so," the brunette replied. "We're adopting him."

The older woman nodded with obvious approval. "Is he an orphan or an unplugged?" she asked.

"Both."

The matron winced. "I understand vhy you vant to adopt him, then."

Trinity nodded. "And there's more. He was abused, so I'm not sure how he'd react to strange adults or the other children."

The gray-haired woman sighed. "I see..."

"Yeah..." Trinity watched Neo say something to Harry that made the boy giggle behind a hand. "Just... just take care of him, okay?"

The matron gave her a gentle smile and patted her reassuringly on the arm. "Of course, dear. I alvays do."

-

Morpheus let out a weary sigh as the Council murmured among itself after hearing his report. He could see the disbelief and even anger on some of their faces at the admittedly farfetched tale.

Neo and Trinity both stood at attention off to the side of the chamber. They'd both been called forward several times to corroborate those parts of his report that they could testify to having witnessed themselves, though from the continuing buzz many of those of the Council seemed unwilling to believe them, either.

Finally, an older woman whose silver hair was pulled up into a bead-covered bun rose from her seat. "Captain Morpheus," she began formally, "Can you offer us _proof_ of these assertions?"

He glanced towards his shipmates. Neither of them looked very happy at the thought, but Neo gave him the slightest of nods. "If Harry is willing, perhaps," he answered cautiously.

There was a doubtful snort from somewhere behind him, and Morpheus automatically stiffened at the familiar sound. "How do you wish to go about this, Councilor Dillard?" he asked the head of the Council, forcing himself to ignore his old friend-turned-rival.

"Should the boy be willing, bring him here. We can set up an interface and a viewing screen easily enough," she ordered, though as always it sounded like a request. There weren't many who could genuinely pull off coating steel with velvet, but the woman who had held the Council of Zion together for decades was one of them.

Morpheus glanced again at Neo and Trinity. This time it was the child's foster mother that nodded, anxious to see her Harry again and make sure he was all right, and then grabbed her husband's sleeve and pulled him out of the Council Chamber after a respectful nod towards that august body.

-

Harry pulled his knees to his chest and leaned back against the wall in the unobtrusive corner he'd chosen, trying to stay out of the way of the other children. It was harder than it seemed; the old rule about children gathered into a group adding up exponentially instead of numerically was very true.

He shrank back a bit further as a group of four children ran by, playing catch with a ball made of colorful yarn. They didn't seem to notice his presence as they flashed by, and despite years of avoiding other children, Harry couldn't help but follow after them wistfully with his eyes. They looked so _happy_…

Unnoticed, across the room the elderly matron in charge of the orphanage caught the arm of the female half of the single pair of twins. She murmured into her ear for a moment, gesturing towards the tiny boy seated against the wall, and the girl nodded.

Harry was broken out of his musings as someone settled down beside him with a rustle of fabric. He twisted to see one of the children he'd noticed earlier, one of the twins, staring at him with a determined expression on her pale face.

"Hello," she said quietly, pulling her knees to her chest in obvious imitation of the way he himself was sitting. "Who're you?"

The boy stared uncertainly at her for a long moment. He wasn't used to being around other children. Dudley and his gang had made a special point of threatening anyone who showed interest in Harry that wasn't in the direction of taunts and insults. "Harry," he finally answered, in a voice just as soft.

Apparently he hadn't managed to do anything wrong yet, because instantly her face broke out into a pleased grin. "Oh, good. I was afraid you were part of the wall for a second there." The grin faltered a little at the look of pure confusion he sent her, but the girl forged on anyway. "I'm Ruth. And I know you haven't met him yet, but that's Ethan," she said, pointing to where her twin had joined the group playing catch. "I'll introduce you two later, at lunch."

Harry stayed silent, still not having a clue why the girl was there and speaking to him, and even less of one over what _he_ was supposed to be doing. It didn't seem to matter much, though, as she rattled right along without any need for his input. "Anyway, so where're you from? I mean, you're an unplugged, right? Well, it's kind of obvious, 'cause you have the sockets. What's the Matrix like? Me an' Ethan were born here, so we've never seen it. We can't do simulations, either, so we have to go to class and learn everything the hard, boring way. How old are you? You look a little young, but maybe we'll have some classes together…" She paused and watched him for a minute. "Well?"

It was a second before Harry realized she was waiting for him to answer her questions. "Er… I'm nine, I'm from England, and…" He shrugged his thin shoulders. How could you describe the Matrix? It just… _was_. Not to mention he didn't have anything to compare it with yet.

Ruth sighed. "Yeah, that's the reaction I always get when I ask the grown-ups. That or a really nasty glare," she added, scrunching up her nose. "Ethan says I should stop asking. That the adults don't want to be reminded, or something like that."

Almost beside himself Harry nodded. He could see why no one wanted to talk about it. He didn't really miss it himself- he'd been happier aboard the _Nebuchadnezzar_ than he'd ever been in the so-called "real world". But he could also remember watching from the outside as others went about their lives in perfect bliss, or so it had seemed to him at the time.

Hell, compared to his life, it _was_ perfect bliss.

The girl had by this point given up on getting him to say anything in response to her running commentary. Instead, she used the garishly-painted wall to push herself to her feet and brushed off her skirt and tank top. "Well? Are you coming?" she asked, staring expectantly down at him. "C'mon! I want you to meet Ethan and the others!"

Harry awkwardly rose, not entirely sure he _wanted_ to meet the 'others'. Ruth seemed nice enough, if rather daunting, but then, so had some of the other children over the years. It had never taken Dudley long to convince them to change their minds. "Er…"

It was at that moment that Trinity stepped inside the orphanage for the second time that day, head swiveling as she scanned the room for his presence. Relieved, Harry took a step towards her, and she smiled as she spotted him.

"Sorry, kiddo, change of plans," she said, walking over to them. "Looks like you won't be staying here tonight after all."

"Why not?" he asked, though he couldn't make himself sound very put out.

The woman sighed. "We reported to the Council, and they'd like to meet you, and confirm a few things. Would you mind showing them, er…"

Harry frowned, worried. Did he really want to show a bunch of complete strangers how much of a, an _abnormality_ he was? It was one thing with Trinity, and Morpheus- they already knew he was… odd. But… what would happen if he didn't do it? Would they keep him away from the family he'd only just realize he had?

Hesitantly, he nodded, and was rewarded with his surrogate mother's smile. "Cool." Trinity hugged him to herself. "Ready to go, then?" she asked.

Harry nodded again, and quickly found his hand again grasped in Trinity's as she led him out of the room. Just before they vanished through the exit, he glanced back once, to see a bemused Ruth standing and staring after them.

* * *

A/N: -jumps up and down- Yes, yes, it's done! Finally! -grins foolishly- Sorry for the wait, guys. One thing I've noticed in writing is that whenever I have to write a new character, I always get this little writer's block as I figure out how to write him or her. And since I introduced quite a few people in this chapter, it added up.

Incidentally, this is not and will never be a Harry/OC, so rest your minds on that score. The kids in the orphanage will play a pretty minor part until later in the series.

* * *

Our most sincere gratitude to **Akua**, **albert87**, **borne-shadow-childe**, **BrattyWitch**, **Cetsunai**, **Cyn**** Wraith**, **Digi**** Bonds**, **E.A.V.**, **Fate**, **gaul1**, **insanegirls22551 **(-blushes-), **Jedi Buttercup**, **Jigglypuff**, **Kazumi**, **King Dimension**, **Lutheyl**, **lynnara**, **Mithros**, **MoonMage** (-laughs- Wow, I have a rabid fangirl… Never expected that.), **MusiqMistress**, **nogoalielikeme**, **Padfut's****-Moon**, **Queen of the Elven City**, **Shade Dancer** (-snorts- Why see the aftermath when you know what it's going to look like? –grins evilly- How Zion reacts to Harry… now _that_ is the million-dollar question, isn't it?), **SilverStreakH**, **SnakeTalker**, **Talons**, **T. Cairpre**, **tristhe** (-beams- Thank you!), **Toki Mirage** (-chuckles-), **Venetus**, and **Wickedmoemoe** for reviewing.

And yes, I realize I shouldn't be doing this, but I believe that those who go to special efforts in writing reviews should at least be given the courtesy of being shown they're appreciated.

**Andrew Joshua Talon**: -grins- Indeed. Very cool. And I'm glad someone's seeing all the work I'm putting into making them a happy little family. Not that they need much- just a little nudge here and there.

blushes bright red- I, um, thank you! Thank you very much! Those are some of the nicest things anyone's ever said to me… -blushes again-

And yeah, I'd pretty much decided on Snape as a major character. He has the most experience with juggling realities, if that makes sense.

And Dumbledore… well, he's not human, I'll say that much. Nor is he the Architect. Sorry, Albie, but you're not _that_ important in the scheme of things…

is _still_ blushing-

**Firedancer885**: -blinks- Really? Would you happen to remember which group it was on? I didn't realize anyone was recommending it… -grins- Not that I mind!

And that talent is very interesting… I might do something like it later. It would help work out a lot of things, though it wouldn't be for a while. Can't have things be too easy, after all.

**Wren Truesong**: Well, if you weren't a favorite before, that review definitely clinched it… I may join you in your self-castigating rant on update rates. It's been… what, three months since the last chapter of this thing?

grins- The 'take a note' bit had me falling out of my chair the last time I read it, and even now I'm chuckling as I read over your review again.

Part of Ruth and the other kids starting to make an entrance is the whole 'needing friends his age' bit, though they won't be really close. And I imagine both schooling situations will apply. Morpheus is brilliant, there's no doubting that, but even he doesn't know everything.

Harry's a bit leery of bringing up anything that sets him apart, which is why he hasn't mentioned his odd sight or expanded on feeling Agents and such beyond when it was necessary.

Neo really is working out as Harry's dad, then? I was worried I hadn't done enough in that direction, which is why I made sure to put more of it in this chapter.

And… 'fraid I can think of a bit more than three instances. The initial shock of Hogwarts, finding out about his parents and Voldie, discovering Voldie might actually be a threat after all, if not the most dangerous one, the various Matrix and Zion ones… -sighs- The poor boy. Killing him after all this might be a mercy. God knows his life's going to be _seriously_ screwed up.

* * *

15 March 2005


	12. The Jury

_Warnings and Disclaimers: _No, Mister Customs Agent, I have nothing to declare…

* * *

He wouldn't quite call it anxiety. Morpheus had stood before the Council many times before, in both the course of his duty and in judgment on his often... unorthodox actions. The last of which had been only months ago, when they questioned his decision to unplug a grown adult, set in the ways of the Matrix. 

And quite rightly questioned that judgment. Neo no longer blamed him for being so caught up in his dreams that they blinded him to reality, but for a long time, there had been a kind of silent resentment on board the _Nebuchadnezzar_. He'd expected too much of the young man, he knew that now, but he'd been so convinced that Neo was the One...

Neo had adjusted to the reality of the world, now, but Morpheus knew Trinity had played a major role in that acceptance, that without her love, Neo might have snapped, his mind cracking underneath the pressure of today's horror like so many others. There was a _reason _it was children who were freed, and not adults, whom some would have considered more useful to the resistance.

For instance, the person whose eyes were drilling a rather annoying hole in his spine.

"Did you want something, Commander Lock?" he asked without turning around, deliberately keeping his voice as calm and neutral as he could.

"Do you really expect us to believe this?" the other man replied scornfully, moving until he was just in front of Morpheus. "Again? You claimed you'd found the One before, Morpheus, and you were wrong."

The ship's captain stiffened. "I do not claim Harry is the One," he stated, feeling the muscles in his jaw clench. No. Not Harry. He _refused _to let little, innocent Harry be the one who had to lead them through the war. He deserved better than that, and better than what life had dealt him so far.

"What else is he, then? You can bend the rules in the Matrix, but you still can't break them. Not even the Matrix lets you get away with magic tricks like 'teleportation'." Wonder of wonders, there was actually genuine curiosity in Lock's voice, though it was nearly buried beneath the mockery.

Morpheus turned until he could look the commander in the eye. "He is a little boy," he replied, his voice hard. "One that deserves everything that we can give him, and does _not_ deserve to be brought before the Council and tested like a lab animal." His vehemence surprised even himself, but it didn't take even a moment of introspection to know he meant every word of it.

Commander Lock stared at him for a long minute, one eyebrow raised. "I see..." he said noncommittally, before they heard the sound of footsteps, and both turned towards the entrance.

-

Harry peeked nervously out at the room from behind Neo's legs. There had to be two dozen people staring back at the little group of three standing in the entrance.

Trinity glanced down at him and smiled reassuringly as she reached out to run her fingers through his hair. "Don't worry, kiddo. Just ignore them," she whispered.

The boy just gave her a look. Easy for her to say...

Neo led him by the hand out into the middle of the room, where Morpheus and another, severe-looking man waited by a chair like those on the _Nebuchadnezzar_. Harry stared up at the captain, trying not to look at the people sitting around the raised table a few feet away. "Sir?" he asked in a voice he was proud to hear barely shook at all.

"The Council asks that you give them a demonstration of your teleportation," Morpheus answered gently, sending a warning glance towards the strange man.

"Oh..." The boy dropped his eyes for a moment, then looked over at the jack chair as Neo squeezed his shoulder comfortingly. "Um... now?"

Morpheus turned to face the dais. "Is the Council prepared?" he asked in a booming voice. Harry couldn't help but start beneath his foster father's hand at the loud noise.

At the center of the arc of people, a steel-haired woman nodded. "We are. You may begin."

Morpheus nodded in return, then offered Harry a hand to help him up into the oversized seat. Together he and Neo made the boy as comfortable as they could, while Trinity hovered anxiously near the entrance.

Harry watched him with frightened green eyes as the dark man leaned over him. "Is this the part where you ask me if I'm ready?" the tiny boy asked with a forced smile as an enormous screen lowered opposite the Council. "Because I'm really hearing that question way too often."

Morpheus' lips quirked slightly. "I won't ask it, then." Behind them, Neo adjusted the jack with practiced movements.

Harry smiled again, a little more naturally. "Good. I don't think I ever will be."

"You will," the captain murmured, the quiet assurance in his voice doing more to calm the boy than anything else. "Someday."

"But not _too_ soon," Neo was quick to add, reaching over to brush away the messy bangs from his forehead. "You need to be a kid first."

Morpheus nodded in agreement, and Harry bit his lip. "But... what if I don't know how?" he asked, worried.

The stranger frowned, as the two men Harry knew exchanged glances. "Then ask Tank to teach you," Neo finally said, hiding his unhappiness as much as he could behind a good-natured grin. "He's a kid at heart, after all."

The boy nodded, closing his eyes as he felt a hand at the base of his skull. Morpheus brushed a hand over the bird's nest of his hair, then gestured for Neo to slide in the jack.

When Harry opened his eyes, he found himself again standing on the rooftop, high in the air. He looked around, but this time he was alone.

**When you're ready, teleport to the aviary on top of the next building to your right,** he heard Morpheus' voice direct from the empty air over his shoulder. Harry glanced in that direction, and after a few seconds of searching spotted the dilapidated structure.

"Alright," he answered, walking over to the edge of the roof. The boy spared a nervous glance for the distant street below; he wasn't sure he'd be able to concentrate in time to teleport back to safety if he fell. "Just there?"

**Yes.**

Harry nodded, taking a deep breath. He focused on the bird cage, painting himself next to it in the picture he held in his head. Then he closed his eyes yet again, and _pushed_ with that odd muscle he wasn't sure even existed except in his imagination, until he heard the familiar 'pop!'

-

Trinity watched with both pride and barely-concealed concern as Harry vanished from the screen. The screen's operator quickly typed a few commands, and the view changed to the area around the aviary, where the young boy leaned against the side of the cage.

More than one quiet gasp rang through the chamber at the sight, along with a few cries of surprise. Morpheus spoke into the microphone in his hand again, warning Harry they would be pulling him out.

Then Trinity was striding over to the little group, ignoring the dumbfounded look on Commander Lock's face. Harry's body twitched as her husband drew out the jack, and the woman pulled the boy into her arms almost before he'd opened his eyes.

The noise in the Council Chamber rose steadily, as members argued over what they had seen, shouted questions out towards the group on the floor that were lost in the clamor, or simply sat and stared in shock. Though there was one who merely watched, as though he were lost in thought…

Harry covered his ears with his hands, his body tensing within the circle of Trinity's arms. "That's enough!" she finally shouted above the uproar, glaring at the surprised faces of the Council. "That's more than enough. You're supposed to be our wise and noble leaders, not a bunch of squabbling brats!"

Beside her, both Neo and Morpheus winced at her beyond-blunt words. "Please, Trinity, let me handle this," the captain muttered through clenched teeth.

She looked at him for a moment, still angry, then sent a glare at the Council before she forced her mother's instincts down and nodded. Morpheus stepped forward, drawing the attention of everyone in the room. "Are any further demonstrations necessary?" he asked, meeting the eyes of as many Council members as he could.

"I don't think they will be," a silver-haired man seated near the end of the table commented wryly. "That was most… effective."

Morpheus bowed his head to one of the few people on the Council who tried to remain truly fair and balanced, instead of furthering their own agenda. "It was intended to be, Councilor Hamann."

"What will become of the child?" the older man asked, peering near-sightedly at Harry.

Instantly most of the Council were offering suggestions, ideas that ranged from placing him in the orphanage with all the other parentless children to throwing him in a cell until he explained exactly how he'd manage to do it. The crewmembers of the _Nebuchadnezzar_ watched with abhorrence as the discussion escalated.

"We're adopting him!" Neo shouted, stepping in front of his wife and child. His shout cut through the noise, as Trinity's had done earlier.

There were a few protests before Councilor Dillard silenced them with a formidable stare. "Your minds are made up?" she inquired, noting with a tiny smile how both Neo and Trinity hovered protectively over the small boy, while their captain stood almost menacingly behind them, practically daring the Council to do anything about it.

"Are you retiring from ship life, then?" Commander Lock asked skeptically, apparently starting to recover from his shock.

"No. Harry will be coming with us," Trinity answered intractably, glowering at him.

"That's impossible, only contributing members of the crew may serve on the hoverships," a voice called from the direction of the Council, and Morpheus nodded.

"That is why I will be taking Harry James Potter as my apprentice, until such time as he passes the tests and gains his license, or leaves of his own free will," he stated, intentionally following the formalities as closely as he could. Then a thought struck him, and he glanced at the boy staring at him with green eyes. "Provided Harry consents, of course."

Harry nodded vehemently, whipping his hair into his face. He brushed it impatiently out of his face. "I want to stay with you!" he said, voice pleading. "Please…"

"Shh." Trinity brushed her hand across his cheek. "You're coming with us, no matter what," she whispered to him, prompting a tremulous smile in return.

Councilor Dillard looked surprised. "You, taking an apprentice, Captain Morpheus? That's quite a change of heart." She studied Harry closely. "You believe he has the potential to be a pilot, then?"

Morpheus nodded. "More than the potential. From what I've seen of the simulations he's tried so far, he's a natural flier."

"I see." The Council Head rose to her feet, gazing down at Harry. "Mr. Potter, as you have accepted Captain Morpheus' tutelage, the Council cannot object to your accompanying the crew of the _Nebuchadnezzar_ when it leaves on its next mission. However…" She paused, waiting until the boy looked up and nervously met her eyes before continuing. "It would be much appreciated if you would agree to train others in this… teleportation before that time."

Harry blinked, the fact that he had just been officially acknowledged as part of his new family taking a few seconds to sink in. "Er… yes, ma'am," he agreed timidly, his quiet voice barely loud enough to be heard. "I'll try."

Councilor Dillard nodded. "See that you do." She looked around at the other members of the Council, taking in the mulish expressions on a couple of faces and dismissing them for the moment. "I don't believe there was any further business.

"As such, I declare this session of the Council to be complete."

* * *

A/N: Yes, I'm back! Sorry, I was just kind of… annoyed that I missed my two-week tradition. I blame end-of-the-year finals and _way_ too many road trips. 

Now, I have an announcement to make, one that will make most of you happy (I hope). This _should_ be, and I emphasize should, be the second-to-last chapter of Know Thyself: the Prelude. blinks and grimaces Oh, joy, now I get to come up with a new title…

And quite a few have asked what the pairing will be. As of the moment, there are none planned, for Harry at least. This will be several years in the making, so my mind might change at some point, but right now that's the score. As to slash or het, again, not a clue.

* * *

_Our most sincere gratitude to_ **Aagwyn**, **Aidan**, **albert87**, **all seeing**, **Andrew Joshua Talon**, **Arsenal**, **ashibabi**, **ASquealinfgYaoiFanGirl**, **Baculities**, **Basilisk from Poland**, **bellashade**, **borne-shadow-child**, **crazy-lil-nae-nae**, **Cyn**** Wraith**, **Dakota Skies**, **Dragonfly**, **Dragonic**, **Emerald-eclipse**, **gaul1**, **HarrySlytherin****Son**, **hermionefairy**, **Jade Dagger**, **Joe**, **Kitta**** Baby**, **Kjkit**, **knicksen**, **LadyDeath1**, **Lady Foxfire**, **Lady-Jules**, **Lady Smoothie**, **LassyD**, **lrachael2005**, **luapregiz**, **Mark Turnlach**, **Maxennce**, **Max Krugman**, **melodeelic**, **Mithros**, **Moonmage**, **Musings-of-Apathy**, **MusiqMistress**, **nogoalielikeme**, **Padfut's****-Moon**, **phoebe13**, **Queen of the Elven City**, **Saetan**, **SelenaWolf**, **Shade Dancer**, **Skuld's**** Sentaro4**, **Toki Mirage**, **Von**, **websurffer**, **Wickedmoemoe**, **wizardmon92**, **XyBulmaXy**, _and _**YumiAngel** _for reviewing._

**Serpent of Light**: 'Fraid after the next chapter the story leaps ahead to first year, and there'll be the occasional flashback. Shrugs It was either that, or keep this "Prelude" going for another year or two (real time).  
I considered the question of how Harry would be able to survive hooked up for that long. What I've come up with is complicated, but I think I can manage it. The other issues all depend on that. I _will_ say that you need to remember that if the Council approves his attending Hogwarts, they won't be putting just one ship on the case.  
Blushes Thank you! I was worried about Morpheus for a while, there.  
Go Seraph!  
And as for the Commander… Not a lot of his _overwhelming_ personality in this chapter, but he'll be appearing more later on. This is just the groundwork. Though I'm not sure he'll always be such a bastard…

**stanley**** T**: chuckles Well, you've got a better idea of where this story is going that I do…  
Yes, Harry would garner attention if I let it be known immediately that he was the One, but I'd rather he not be singled out more than he has to be this early in the story. He'll be getting a lot more attention in the next story. And I would appreciate anything you could tell me about Niobe. I think I can get a pretty good guess of her speech patterns from the movies, but anything would help. Same with Ghost, though I haven't a clue about how _he_ speaks.  
Grins I remembered that quote from the movie as well… Take another look at it. There's more than one meaning.

**Wren Truesong**: chuckles Of course. Always and forever.  
Snorts No, none of that nonsense. Whenever I see that part of the movie I'm always torn between laughter and nausea.  
Yes, far too early… And at this point, I'm thinking no pairings at all, for Harry at least.  
Hugs Don't worry, I'm not quite up to my usual standards either. In my defense, I beg the facts that it's late and I got in from yet another road trip just a few hours ago.

_Alright, guys, I love getting so many reviews from you, but it's just gotten to the point where there are simply too many to reply to even half of them. I tried to do it with this chapter, and erased most of them because it had added up to nearly half again the actual chapter. As a result, I'm just going to answer those reviews that almost literally just scream at me for a reply. Please, if you have any questions you want me to answer, email me at one of the addresses in my profile or AIM me.

* * *

_

28 May 2005


	13. I Can't Help But Wonder Where I'm Bound

**Warnings and Disclaimers:** I might have a couple of quotes from other sources in there, but if I do I can't find 'em.

* * *

This time, the corridor was nearly deserted, and they were able to walk three abreast. Morpheus had split off from the little group just after they'd left the Council's chamber, presumably to go to his own quarters, and none of them had spoken much since saying goodbye. The reason for Harry's silence, at least, was easily understood. It hadn't really hit him yet, standing there before the Council. It was done, it was official: 

They were a_ family_.

It was something he'd never had before, the Dursleys doing more to prove the lack than disprove it. He'd had a taste of what it was like, this past week, but even that hadn't been the same. Trinity, Neo, Tank, even Morpheus- they were the first people who'd ever treated him with kindness, and in the process Harry had come to see them as a pseudo-family, but it hadn't been _real_.

And now it was. Harry couldn't help the undoubtedly goofy grin spreading over his face. Who'd have thought?

"Harry?" Trinity asked, curiosity obvious in her voice, and the boy looked up to see her staring bemusedly down at him.

"It's _real_," he told her, still grinning hard enough to make his cheeks hurt.

The woman blinked, not following the non sequitur, but Neo chuckled. "Yes, it's real," he told his son with a little smile of his own.

Harry laughed happily, a brief, quicksilver sound, that for all its short duration somehow made the dull steel and stone around them seem brighter. The sound startled a laugh out of Trinity as well, though she still didn't quite understand what the short conversation had been about.

The young boy abruptly skipped ahead a space and stopped, turning to them with a serious expression on his face. The two adults shared a worried glance, stopping as well as they tried to figure out what had caused the sudden mood swing. He'd seemed so happy, why...?

Harry gazed at them for a moment more, then opened his mouth to speak. "Does this mean that I call you Mum and Dad?" he asked curiously.

Only a great deal of self-control kept Trinity from gaping wordlessly. That was something she hadn't considered... "Would you like to?" she asked after a couple of seconds.

Harry worried his lower lip between his teeth, a habit she realized he must have already picked up from either her or Tank, since she'd never seen him do it before. "...I don't know," the boy finally answered. "Can... can I think about it?"

She smiled, looking down at him. "Yeah. You go ahead and do that. It's completely up to you, hon."

Harry nodded, and by the expression on his face she knew his mind was already hard at work pondering the question. With a quiet chuckle, she put a hand on his shoulder and started him down the corridor once again. "Easy, kiddo. You've got plenty of time to decide."

Behind them, Neo was practically beaming as he trailed his wife and child. And all the way down to their quarters, that refrain ran happily through his mind.

Yes. It was real.

-

Morpheus sighed wearily, resting his upper body against the railing. Below, intermittent walkways spanned the thousand-foot drop, still bustling with people even though the chrono said the hour was late. But then, when there was no sun, no moon, there wasn't much weight attached to supposed "days" and ''nights". Truly, Zion was alive twenty-four hours a day; not so very different, in that respect at least, from the Matrix and the past it mirrored.

But it was different in so many other ways, and not for the first time Morpheus doubted his decision in letting Trinity bring Harry out.

Yes, he knew the boy had been abused by his uncle, but by Trinity's own admission, the man was dead and would never have hurt anyone again. Perhaps with the uncle dead and buried, Harry would have begun a better life, and someday even have been happy, never knowing about the horrors of the real world.

For reality, with its harsh truth and cold, unfeeling steel and stone, was_ not_ a place for a child to be happy. And who knew what life Harry might have led, otherwise?

Steel-shod footsteps sounded behind the brooding captain, and their owner joined him at the railing. "So, you've won this time," the commander stated harshly, and Morpheus sighed.

"It's not a competition, Lock," he replied, closing his eyes. "And, no, I didn't win."

The man made a skeptical noise, and Morpheus opened his eyes to finally look straight at him. "I'd hoped the Council might see fit just to leave Harry in peace," he explained. "But now, they will hound him for answers a nine-year-old boy couldn't possibly have. He doesn't need that."

Lock didn't say anything as his once friend gazed at him with sad eyes, merely staring down into the depths below, until finally Morpheus looked away. "There is one more thing," he abruptly said after long minutes of silence. "I've overlooked it until now, but you and your crew have had long enough to grieve. Safety regulations state a hovership must have two trained operators on board at all times. I'll send you the personnel files tomorrow and expect you to chose one of them before your next tour of duty."

Morpheus's mouth went dry with protests. _Tank_... This was going to hurt him badly, seeing his brother supposedly replaced. "I see," was all he said out loud, stepping away from the railing and turning to leave. "I'll look over the files as soon as they arrive, then."

He'd barely taken a step before a hand on his arm stopped him. "I'm not trying to be cruel," Commander Lock said quietly. "It's regulations. I shouldn't have let this go as long as I did. It wasn't safe for you or your crew." He released the startled captain, turning himself to leave. "Besides, look at it this way," he called back over his shoulder as he walked away. "You've got a kid on board.

"You'll need a babysitter!"

-

Trinity helped the green-eyed boy into his temporary bed and reminded herself to contact one of the construction crews in the morning about excavating a new chamber for him in their quarters. He couldn't sleep on their rough facsimile of a couch forever.

"You feeling all right?" she asked, pulling the blanket up to his chin. "You've had one hell of a day."

Harry chewed on his lip again for a few seconds. "I'm... worried, I guess," the boy admitted. "All those people, they all know I'm a... that I'm different," he expanded, quickly altering what he'd been about to say at Trinity's warning look.

The woman pondered that for a moment. "Alright. So what?" she finally replied. Harry gave her a startled look.

"So what if they know you're different?" Trinity continued. "I'm not saying the Council is made up of saints, but they're not your uncle, either." She brushed his cheek with a gentle hand. "There's no shame in being different, and certainly is in being just like everyone else."

"Really?" the boy breathed, his face hopeful.

Trinity nodded. "Just think of how boring it would be if everyone were the same." Which was the vision of the machines, who only specialized even their own forms in response to outside stimuli, like the ever unpredictable human race.

Harry was silent, contemplating that picture. Trinity smiled softly and leaned forward to kiss him on the forehead. "Good night, kiddo. Try to get some sleep, there's a lot to do tomorrow." Still smiling, she rose and had just turned out the lights when she heard a quiet voice.

"Good night... Mum."

-

Even after his foster mother had left the room, Harry lay awake in the near-darkness thinking about her words. They went against everything he'd been brought up to believe in the Dursley household. Anything outside of what his family considered "normal" was to be feared and ridiculed as somehow lesser, contemptible.

Harry'd never been normal, and under that belief system had thought it perfectly right that he be treated as he was. But now everyone around him seemed to think that his strangeness was not only alright, but to be lauded.

_"There's no shame in being different..."_

If that was so... would his new family still accept him if it turned out he was even more different that they thought he was? He still hadn't reminded Trinity about the way his hair had grown back, and ever since he'd demonstrated before the Council, a horrible suspicion had been niggling at the back of his mind.

Mind you, it was still only a suspicion, but it would take only a simple test to prove or disprove it. Was he brave enough...?

No. He had to _know_.

Before he could lose his nerve, Harry got up out of the makeshift bed. He had a feeling he wouldn't have too much energy left afterwards, if it worked, and better to collapse on the bed than across the room because he'd used it as his starting point.

The boy turned and looked back at the couch, grateful for the shuttered lamp Neo had set up as an impromptu nightlight. Without it, and with no possibility of natural light, he wouldn't have been able to see a thing. As it was, he was just able to make out the blanket-covered form.

Taking a deep breath, Harry fixed the image in his mind, then closed his eyes. As something he was beginning to get rather practiced at, he pictured himself sitting on top of the tangle he'd made of the blanket, and _pushed_.

There was a quiet 'pop!', and Harry fell perhaps an inch onto the couch.

Almost immediately lethargy set in, and the dazed boy was barely able to slip himself back under the blanket before what little strength he had ran out. His mind was nearly as sluggish as the rest of him, but it was still awake enough to be at least mildly panicking.

Oh, God, it was real. Trinity was wrong, it wasn't the Matrix, it was _him_. What... what was he going to tell her? She wouldn't deserted him, he was fairly sure of that, but his mind screamed at him that 'fairly' wasn't an absolutely.

Finally he shook his head, though there was no one in the darkness to see the gesture. No. It wasn't worth the risk. He couldn't tell her, couldn't tell anyone. No one could know just how different he was.

His mind made up, Harry laboriously rolled over into a more comfortable position and drifted off into a sleep that could hardly be termed restful.

* * *

**_FINE_**

* * *

A/N: And that, ladies and gentlemen, is the last curtain call on Know Thyself: the Prelude. After one year, seven months, and eighteen days, it is finally finished, if not at all complete. 

I thought this might be a fitting gift for the occasion, given that today in and of itself is an ending, being the last day before the beginning of my senior year of high school. Dear God, I have to grow up soon...

Please, I hope you've enjoyed this story as much as I have, despite its occasional snarls and stumbles, not to mention just plain stubbornness. This is the first story I've ever finished, and now all I can do is lean back and say with pride... "My baby's growing up." (sniffle)

* * *

_Our most sincere gratitude to_ **Aagwyn**, **acr**, **aerinoutlander**, **Aidan**, **A lilmatchgirl**, **angelkitty77**, **bookfanatic84**, **bubblegumb1**, **Circe Visigoth**, **Damon Rhodes**, **darknesscomes**, **Eslyssa**, **Fate**, **Ferdia**, **Firehedgehog**, **FuNkY**** sWiMimEr**, **Gato****-sama**, **ginnyNharrysecretlove**, **Inimene**, **King Dimension**, **Kitta****-Baby**, **korrd**, **Lady-Slytherin-Warrior**, **Lauren**, **Locathah**, **Moonmage**, **Mr**** Blader X**, **Never Odd Or eveN**, **Night-Owl123**, **Queen of the Elven City**, **Rayne Saijeuz**, **Ryodo**, **SilverStreakH**, **stuck-in-a-tree**, **Sweetest Thang**, **The Lady Reaper of the Shadows**, **Toki Mirage**, **VainFirechild-EverSoVain**, **Voakands**, **Von**, **websurffer**, **wizardmon92**, **Wytil**, _and_ **yo**** misma** _for reviewing._

**Amaris**** Kincaid:** looks annoyed Do you have any idea how hard it is dodging those monkeys of yours? Though, I _did_ make a pretty penny after the Zoo called...

**FrozenOnyxPhoenix:** I have no problem with you using my ideas. In fact, I'd be honored.

**Kaaera:** I'm afraid my main Matrix info site got taken down, but www. geocities. com/ sgperihelion /matrixnames .html has some interesting tidbits. As for AIMing me, feel free. I should be on any night this week.

**Rayven:** Don't tempt me. Please, please, please, don't tempt me...

**ReflectionsOfReality: **This isn't my actual reply. I'm still working on that one, and should be able to email it to you soon. Let me just say that I'm utterly thrilled with how much thought you put into your review! Hugs

**Wren Truesong:** snickers Oh, that would have been hilarious...  
Grins I was wondering who would be the first to see Trin's prophecy still came true.  
Bursts out laughing I never looked at it like that... But you're right, who the hell pulls out a katana to kill a ghost while riding on top of a semi?  
Makes a note to throw that joke in a few more times.  
Violent, maternal women: what's not to love? Still haven't managed to think of a title yet... And of course I love you! Hugs

* * *

7 August 2005


End file.
